The Midnight Priestess Matetobe of Sesshomaru?
by Kaira-chan15
Summary: The Midnight Priestess, a weapon of destruction and an artist of healing. What happens when she is captured by Lord Sesshomaru?
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

The Midnight Priestess, Mate-to-be of Sesshomaru? You've got to be Kidding Me?

Prologue

Aowin Greye was a normal 14 year old girl with long crimson hair that went down to her thighs, and emerald green eyes, who lived a normal life in America until one day. Aowin was coming home from school when she saw a cat. She went to pet it but it ran into the hole that led to the old mine shaft that was somehow in her yard. Afraid it would get hurt from a cave in Aowin went after it, but when she jumped down the hole bright blue light enveloped her, and when it stopped she was at the bottom of and old mine, so she climbed out thinking she was still at home. When she popped up she was in a dense forest instead of her yard. Ok, I know your all waiting for me to get on with it but wait. She walks through it and after walking for hours finds an injured hanyou we all know on the ground with a deep gash across his chest, and a weeping Kagome beside him. Aowin feels an urge and goes over to him and says let me see him.

She put her hand on his gash and focused her energy into it. The cut glows a bright blue and disappears completely, and she feels very weakened. They thank you and ask her how she did it and why her necklace was glowing. (I forgot to mention, you have a necklace that looks identical to the Shikon no Tama when it was on the necklace and whole, but its like a choker and the orb is blue) she explained to them how when she was little she had helped an old woman who was hurt and how she put this necklace around her neck and said "This is a great gift, but also a terrible one." She had not noticed that a purple crescent moon (like Sesshomaru's) had appeared on your forehead. You go to Kaede and explain how you got here yada yada and she explains to you about a prophecy about a midnight priestess who was a great healer yet a weapon of destruction. She told of how the midnight priestess could heal any wound and maybe even bring a person back to life depending on how strong they are. And how they could also destroy thousands of people with one strike.

After that Aowin met the rest of the group and since she can't go back home yet travel with them and help them find the shikon shards. As she travels along she learns how to use her powers and get stronger until she is undefeatable. She eventually figures out how to gets back and goes back and forth between times like Kagome. And here is where our story starts.

Sorry it was so long guys, I had a lot to tell. Here the story starts. Also, if anyone thinks I should tell of the story of Aowin and how she got here in a story form, please email me and tell. Because a lot more goes on than what I told and it's quite interesting I think. My email is 


	2. Chapter 2 Lord Sesshomaru's Problem

Chapter 2 Lord Sesshomaru's Problem

Sesshomaru paced the room impatiently waiting for his father's servant, Doss, to show up. As is reading his mind, the servant scrambled through the door and took a seat at the table. "S-sorry I'm Lord Sesshomaru, I was held u-up." The servant squeaked out frightfully, afraid that Sesshomaru would hurt him for being late. Sesshomaru said nothing, but sat down in front of him.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Sesshomaru said in his usual emotionless voice.

"W-well, now that you are ruling the Western lands, it is required you have a mate." Doss stuttered, nervously wringing his hands. He knew Sesshomaru did not love, and it was going to be hard to find him a mate in time. Sesshomaru just sat emotionless, but Doss was sure he saw a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "It is the duty of all the lords of their lands to have a mate by the time of the Spring ball, which is in one month." Doss stared nervously at Sesshomaru, afraid of his reaction.

"And if I don't find a mate? Sesshomaru asked.

"Well, then you will lose your lands." This Sesshomaru does not love, and did not intend to, but he would not lose his lands. Sesshomaru sighed, irritated.

"Very well."

"There are a number of female youkai prepared for your choosing." Doss said, leading Sesshomaru to another room. There he went from youkai to youkai, trying to find the right one. They were all pretty but they were too clingy.

"None of these will do." Sesshomaru said getting up.

"But my lord, they are the only youkai in the area." He stuttered.

"Are there no other worthy enough to rule the Western lands with me? Are there none strong enough?" Doss gulped.

"There is one other. The Midnight Priestess, Aowin. Said to be stronger than your father himself." Sesshomaru's eyes widened. Stronger than his father? That was something new.

"Very well. Bring her to me." Sesshomaru waved his hand signaling for him to go.

"B-but there's one problem, my lord." Sesshomaru grunted, annoyed by this stuttering servant of his father's. "Well…uh..she's a human."

Well that's his problem. Lose his pride and marry a human and keep the Western lands. Or lose his pride and lose his Western lands. The next one will be coming out soon! Hope you like it!


	3. Chapter 3 Sessomaru's Decision: Captured

Chapter 3 Sesshomaru's Decision and Aowin captured

Sesshomaru stared at Doss with disbelieving eyes. "This Sesshomaru will not mate a filthy mortal." He spat out in disgust.

"But my lord, be sensible. She is very powerful; she would make a good mate. Even if she is human." Doss was shaking from head to toe.

"Are you sure there are no others?" Would he lose his pride and marry a human? Wither that or lose his land.

"There are n-no others." Sesshomaru sighed in defeat.

"Fine. Bring her here." Doss was about to go out the door before Sesshomaru stopped him. "Wait. I will capture her. She will destroy the pitiful demons I send easily." And with that said, Sesshomaru strode out the door, leaving a shivering Doss there.

Aowin sighed as she lugged her giant back pack ( like Kagome's) through the woods towards her friends. She had just come back from her time and was meeting her friends in the woods. Aowin was only 14, but today was her 15th birthday. Her backpack was much heavier before because it was loaded with presents from her family. Aowin was very pretty for her age, with her long crimson hair that was down to her thighs, and her deep, emerald green eyes. She finally reached the clearing which her friend's said they would wait for her. But when she got to the clearing she was deafened by 5 very loud "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" being shouted in her ear. There was a giant banner that said "Happy Birthday", and a small picnic table piled with presents, which Inuyasha and the gang were all standing on.

"Awwww you guys didn't have to do this!" She shouted happily.

"But we wanted to! It is your birthday after all!" Kagome shouted.

"-sniff, sniff- Y-you guys are the best friends ever! She said tackling them all and hugging them.

"A-Aowin! I…can't breathe…!" Shippou gasped.

"Oh, sorry!" She said blushing.

"Cake time!" Sango shouted. They brought out a rice cake out of nowhere and brought it over to Aowin.

"Make a wish!" Kagome advised you. Hmmmm….what should I wish for? Aowin thought. I know! I wish for us to all be friends forever, and to have great time together! She then blew out all the candles in one huge blow.

"So what did you wish for?" Inuyasha asked.

"Uh uh uh! Not going to tell you or it won't come true!" She said winking.

"Aw come on that's not fun." Inuyasha pleaded.

"Nope!" But Inuyasha still persisted. When you all got tired of it Aowin signaled Kagome to you-know-what him.

"Inuyasha, SIT!" There came a crashing sound and Inuyasha landed face first in your rice cake. They all broke out laughing at Inuyasha. Aowin was rolling on the ground clutching your stomach.

"Ha,ha Inuyasha! Serves you right!" She choked out through laughs.

"Why you.." He groaned when the spell wore off. "You think that's funny huh?" He yelled as he chased after Aowin and Kagome.

"Present time!" Miroku called to you three.

"Presents!" Aowin asked excitedly as you stopped climbing the tree she was climbing to get away from Inuyasha. "YAY!" She yelled, but that caused you to slip and land right on Inuyasha. "Oops sorry about that." Aowin said getting off him.

"A little late don't you think?" He yelled.

"Here open mine first." Miroku handed her a squishy package wrapped in black paper with red roses. Aowin tore it open quickly, she was never a patient one when it came to presents. When she took it out it was an elegant blood red Chinese dress(you know the ones with the little designs and that stripe thing going down from the shoulder to the waist?).

"Oh my gosh Miroku it's beautiful!" She cried.

"I thought you would like it. It seems to be your type!" She hugged him tightly, but moved away when she felt his hand wander, which got him a slap on the face from both Sango and Aowin.

"I'm going to try it on!" She said excitedly while moving behind a tree. When she came out there were gaps.

"You looked beautiful!" Commented everyone but Inuyasha. She knew he wouldn't comment, but she saw his jaw drop slightly. The next present she opened was a long mythrill blue katanna, which had AOWIN carved into it.

"Thank you so much Sango! I needed a new one!" Sango laughed and hugged Aowin, surprised by how much affection Aowin could show. Next was a present from Shippou and Kirara, who both got her a cleaning kit for her new katanna. She hugged them and threw them in the air and caught them. "Thank you thank you!" Kirara meowed as if saying "you're welcome!" Next was Kagome's present. She had gotten her a CD by her favorite artist Avril Lavigne. "I've been wanting this CD forever thank you!" Aowin hugged her (you could've guessed that was coming right?), and got the final present.

"Here." Inuyasha tossed her a very small package.

"What is it what is it?" She tore it open and inside was a beautiful crystal clear diamond.

"You said you had trouble controlling the dark side of your powers, and this will help keep you pure." He said as if it wasn't a big deal. (Aowin's dark side is when she's using her powers if she gets too angry her eyes will glow red and she will be a whole new person and destroy everyone and everything in her path)

"Inuyasha….THANK YOU!" She tackled him to the ground catching him off guard and hugged him. "Jeez is it that great a present." He asked hugging her back.

After receiving the presents she had changed out of her new dress because she didn't want to get it dirty, then she had pressed the diamond against her forehead, and it sank into her body, which would protect her a little from changing into her dark side. Next, she had cleaned her sword with the cleaning kit, and then had a sword fight with Sango and Inuyasha. Now, after they all had more fun and celebrated the group had separated for awhile. Kagome and Sango were in the fields picking herbs, Miroku was in the village with Shippou and Kirara "getting supplies" he had said.

Yeah right, Aowin thought. He's probably flirting with every girl in sight. This thought made her smirk. She made herself a mental note to see how many slap marks he had when he got back. Now she and Inuyasha, both being lazy bums, were laying around resting in a tree. Inuyasha in a lower branch sleeping, while she was above him listening to her new CD. After awhile she got bored and turned it off and went to sleep. She hadn't been asleep very long when she happened to roll off the branch and fall on a sleeping Inuyasha. "What the heck?" He screamed. The branch they were on started to crack and before they could do anything about it, it broke.

"AHHHHH!" Aowin screamed while she buried her face in Inuyasha's chest and clung onto his neck. They landed with a loud thud on the ground. "Phew we're all right. Or at least I am." She said glancing at Inuyasha who was pushed into the ground with her sitting on him.

"Would you mind getting off me!" He growled as he threw her off him.

"Well sorry! It's not my fault I roll in my sleep!" She retorted.

"Then why didn't you sleep on the ground!"

"I……..I don't know…" Anime sweat drop from Inuyasha. Oh please help me. He thought. "Hey Inuyasha want to race?"

"No." Aowin puffed up her cheeks in anger.

"Why not?" He sighed.

"I'm a half-demon, you're a human. It'd be a pointless race, you'd lose."

"Sounds to me like your just afraid.

"What!" That got him, she thought.

"You heard me, you're a coward."

"Feh, you're going to regret facing me." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh I'm sure I will." She said sarcastically while Inuyasha and her lined up. "Ready..set..GO!" They both took off, Inuyasha in the lead of course.

"Ha, ha! Told you its pointless!" He was almost to the clearing they were racing to.

"I wouldn't bet on that!" Aowin shouted to him.

"What do you-" But he was cut off as he smashed into a barrier. It was Aowin's turn to laugh.

"Ha, ha! Better watch where your going Inuyasha!" She ran past him laughing.

"C-cheater!" He yelled

"Wait til I catch up, and your so dead!" She laughed harder.

"That will be the day!"

Sesshomaru's P.O.V

He didn't need to go find her, because she was coming right to him. He waited in the clearing as she ran out laughing. She wasn't paying much attention so the girl slammed right into him. "Oh sorry." She mumbled to him turning around to go back, but he grabbed her arm. She turned around to face him. "Can I help you?" He held a firm grip on her arm.

"Your coming with me." He stated plainly.

"Um, I don't think so! Who are you and what do you want." This was going to be harder than he thought.

"There's no need to answer pointless questions." He grabbed her wrists in a flash before she could do anything, and tied them in a rope made from his father's hair. This rope would prevent her from using her powers while it was on her, and it was almost impossible to rip.

"Hey get this off me!" She shouted tugging at it, but with each tug she got shocked. At the moment his half-brother popped out of the woods and ran towards them. "Sesshomaru! Let her go!" He yelled.

"Ah, little brother. How nice of you to come."

"Cut the crap! Give her back! What do you want her for!" Inuyasha took out his sword and Sesshomaru did the same.

"Those questions do not need answers." He lashed out at Inuyasha.

"Feh." Inuyasha did the same to Sesshomaru but he kept using Aowin as a shield. "Damnit! Stop hiding behind her!" Inuyasha growled angrily.

"You are wasting my time." Sesshomaru growled back as he used Dragon Destructive wave on Inuyasha. Inuyasha who wasn't expecting this screamed in agony as his skin was shredded and cut.

"Inuyasha!" The girl cried out to him.

"Come." Sesshomaru started to pull her away.

"Hell no! I'm not going anywhere with you!" She swung her foot up and tried to kick Sesshomaru in the back of the head, but he caught her foot and twisted it. "Urgh!" She groaned in pain. He dropped her foot and she crumpled to the ground.

"You test my patience priestess."

"I should say the same for you." She winced painfully. He glared at her.

"Come." He said again.

"I'm not a dog! And hello? You just broke my ankle! How do you expect me to walk!" He thought a moment then picked her up and swung her over his shoulder, then took off into the air. "Hey let me go! I changed my mind I want to walk!" She struggled angrily.

"Would you rather fall to your death?" She looked down and saw how high up they were.

"Eek!" She clung onto Sesshomaru for dear life while he continued jumping from treetop to treetop. (She had a terrible fear of heights) "What a great way to celebrate my birthday." She mumbled to herself sighing.

Omg I'm sorry it's so long! I had a lot to put! The next one should be out soon. Thanks for reading:D


	4. Chapter 4 A Long Way From Home

Chapter 4 A Long Way From "Home"

They had been traveling for a long time and Aowin felt herself drowsing and quickly snapped out of it. For all she knew he could drop her at any minute, she could not let her guard down! After a few more minutes he landed in a small clearing and set her down not too gently, he practically dropped her. "We will set up camp here." He stated then walked off into the woods.

"Wait, where are you going?" He glanced back but kept walking.

"To take a bath." She frowned as she limped around the clearing setting up the camp.

"WE set up camp? It's more like ME set up camp!" She grumbled the whole time. She sighed and leaned back against a tree when she was done, admiring her work. It was a blazing fire in the center, a sleeping bag on one side and a couple sturdy logs for sitting on the other side. Ok, so it's not exactly hard work, but with a broken ankle and bound hands, it was to her. She sat on one of the logs and glanced around quickly. Hehe, he's not coming anytime soon, so now to get this rope off! She thought. She focused on generating power into her hand, tried to blow up the ropes, but she couldn't use her magic at all. "W-hat? Why can't I brake it?" She tried over and over but to no avail.

"That rope is made from the hair of my father, it cancels your magic and is indestructible." Sesshomaru had come back from his bath and was walking out of the trees.

"Gah!" She fell backwards and landed painfully on you back. "Gosh you scared me! Warn me when you're going to pop out like that!" He raised an eyebrow at you but didn't say anything but instead sat down and leaned against a tree, to watch her feeble attempts to chew off the rope. Aowin continued to gnaw and tear at the ropes until her teeth and nails were sore. She found it was useless and collapsed onto a log to make a cast like thing for her ankle. She took some sturdy sticks and put them on each side of her ankle and then fumbled with the ace bandage.

She tried to bind the sticks with ace bandage but found it too hard with her bound hands. She sighed in frustration and tried it once more but fell off the log landing on her funny bone sending jolts of pain through her body. When she managed to get up she saw Sesshomaru staring at her, with an amused look in his eye? Aowin sat up straight and glared at him. "Do you actually think this is funny?" She glared at him.

"Yes, actually I do." She growled in frustration. Great, now she had an audience.

"If only I had my powers then I would wipe that look off your face." She grumbled more to herself, but with his hearing he heard it and growled warningly.

She gave up with the cast for now, seeing how it was nearly impossible for her.

"Priestess, you may take a bath at the onsen over there." Sesshomaru finally broke the silence. She was about to go but remembered something and stopped.

"And how do I do that?" She was tired of pointing out the obvious. She held up her wrists. He undid the rope but put his fingers to her forehead. A green light grew from them, lighting up the purple crescent moon on her forward, then disappeared. "Ummm…..what did that do?" She rubber her wrists happily, finally being free of the ropes.

"It was a spell. It will stop you from using your powers, and it will call me if you try to run away." She stared at him.

"All this time you were using the rope when you could've just used the spell! Why the heck did you do that?"

"It was amusing to watch you struggle." She glared at him and tried to hit him but he caught her hand. "I would be more respectful if I were you." He said while tightening his grip. Aowin snorted.

"Respectful for what? Capturing me and breaking my ankle? Not going to happen!" He glared at her then threw her to the ground and walked away.

"You were lucky this time priestess. Next time I will be harsh." She growled then got her bath stuff and began to walk towards the onsen then paused.

"My name is Aowin. Use it!"

"Ahhh…this is heaven." Aowin moaned. She dipped lower into the onsen. It felt so heavenly, to be in the warm water, away from Sesshomaru, away from all her troubles. She rested awhile more then washed up and wrapped herself in a towel. She stared up at the moon and sighed. It would be the crescent moon in a couple of days. Aowin went behind a rock and changed into a green t-shirt that said "Rae-T", and a pair of dark brown baggy pants that came with a black belt and a chain. She then put on black fishnet arm warmers and pulled her hair up in a low ponytail with a white ribbon. She stared once more at the crescent moon then grudgingly walked back to her captor. When she got back he appeared to be asleep but she knew better. Aowin worked on the cast and finally managed to make a suitable one.

She slipped into her sleeping bag but did not sleep. She planned to run away tonight, silly little spell or not. Well, somehow she managed to fall asleep. She woke with worry, afraid he was already awake, but it was still dark out. She had not been asleep for more than a couple hours. She quietly got up and started to make her way towards the trees when something tightened on her ankle and she fell forward.

"Ouch." She mumbled while rubbing her head. She looked down at her foot and found a rope around it, and she followed it with her eyes until it reached a certain person we know. "Sesshomaru, what the heck?" She asked tugging impatiently on the rope.

"I thought you would try to escape during the night." Aowin angrily tugged on the rope but found out it was the rope he out on you earlier. Oh yeah, this rope was indestructible.

"Ugh…" She sighed and went back to her sleeping bag. Now he's going to be watching me all night, she thought.

The next morning they had gotten all packed and were on the road again. Except this time they walked, and didn't jump from the trees. He probably wants to see me struggle more, Aowin thought bitterly as she shifted her weight off her injured ankle. "Are we there yet?" She had been asking this question at least 10 times every hour, and he was now annoyed and was ignoring her. Finally after asking for the billionth time he answered just to get her to shut up. "It should take us a couple more days. We're a long way from home." She groaned. Great. She couldn't wait to get to her new "Home". (note sarcasm)

Sorry this ones pretty long too. I should have the next one out soon. If you feel I should change anything just let me know! Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5 Sesshomaru's Mate

Chapter 5 Sesshomaru's Mate

Aowin and Sesshomaru had been traveling for 2 days, and they still hadn't reached the castle. Traveling with Sesshomaru had been terrible. He barely ever talked, and when she tried to start up a conversation he would either not talk at all or give one word replies. She felt like she was going to go insane if she didn't talk to someone soon. She sighed and kept on walking, but was soon stopped when she banged into the back of Sesshomaru. "Oops sorry. Didn't know you stopped." He didn't answer but pointed to the humongous castle in front of them that Aowin had failed to notice.

"Wow…is that yours?" He nodded his head in reply and continued walking towards it. She gazed at its gorgeousness. There was a crystal clear lake beside the castle, and gardens filled with beautiful flowers of all kinds lining the castle walls. Beside the path to the castle gates were cherry blossom trees that were twined together over their heads, making it seem like a long arch. She turned her gaze away from the scenery when she saw a small man stumbling towards them. Wait, at first glance it looked like a man but she saw now that he had a fluffy stub tail and two little fox ears. He was a kitsune like Shippo!

"Oh, that must be the Midnight Priestess! Hello, I am Doss. Oh, and a pretty one you are! Very young too. Lord Sesshomaru, you've gotten yourself a fine mate!" That last word made Aowin almost loose her footing.

"What? Mate?" She nearly screamed.

"Oh, so I guess you haven't told her Sesshomaru." Doss turned to Aowin.

"Yes, you are to be Sesshomaru's mate. You should be honored." She snorts.

"Honored? Yeah right! I'd rather be mated to anyone else but him!" She was panting now from yelling her head off.

"Hmm…a feisty one isn't she. It's going to be hard to get her to cooperate." Heck yeah it's going to be hard to get me to cooperate. She thought angrily in her mind.

"Come with me, we have much to explain." Doss was tugging on her arm and pulling her into a room.

Once Aowin, Doss and Sesshomaru were all sat down, Doss started to explain. "Ok, to start off, the reason Sesshomaru needs a mate is because all the lords of the lands need one. If they don't get one by the time of the Spring Ball, they lose their lands and their pride."

"Ok, I get that. But why does he want a human like me? He despises humans." Doss explained, "We brought up a number of female youkai to the castle, but none were right. They all wanted him for his money or just for the popularity."

"I don't want him at all though! Wouldn't it be better to have someone who wants him for something? Because I don't want him for anything." Doss sighed.

"This is going to be harder than I thought. Well, whether you want him or not, you're going to have to be his mate. You the only human that is strong enough to deserve to be his mate." She gave him a look of disbelief.

"Excuse me? I am not going to be his mate if I don't want to, and I don't! You can't force me into anything! In fact, I'd like to see you try!" She dared. She realized that maybe that wasn't the best decision. She couldn't use her powers because of that stupid spell, so she was pretty much as weak as a normal human. Damn, what did I get myself into? She thought of a better way to handle this. "Can't we just pretend to be mates? Because I hate him, and he hates me. If we just pretend and act like we're mates, will that work?" Doss pondered.

"Hmm…that could work, but not everyone will be fooled. The act will have to be good." Yes! She cheered in her head.

"That will be fine." Sesshomaru had spoken for the first time.

"So how long do I have to pretend?"

"You have to pretend at least for a couple of months. She stopped cheering.

"What? A couple of months! Won't my friends be worried that I've been gone for a couple of months? And what about my family?"

"To avoid suspicion, you will be able to visit them. Come let me show you to our room." She had missed the "our room" part, and she followed Sesshomaru down the hall. They stopped in front of a golden door. When Sesshomaru opened it she gasped. It was beautiful. There were silk curtains and silk bed sheets, and the bed was made of perfectly curved mahogany.

"Call the servants if you need anything." He was about to walk out when a little girl in an orange bubble kimono burst through the door.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Who is the girl?"

"Rin, this is Aowin. She will be staying with us for awhile." Rin ran up to you and bowed.

"Hello Aowin! I'm Rin!" Aowin bowed back politely.

"Hello Rin!" Aowin could not resist any longer. She swept the girl up in her arms and hugged her. "You are just too cute Rin!" Rin was surprised but hugger her back. Funny, Aowin can be shouting her head off at one time, and then the next moment she's all cheerful. Strange girl… Sesshomaru thought as he walked away.

"Do you want to play tag with me Aowin-chan?" Aowin smiled happily at Rin.

"Sure!"

They chased each other around the lake and flowers as they played tag. Aowin was it now. She zigzagged through the cherry blossom trees looking for Rin. She heard rustling in the trees so she jumped towards it and tackled who she thought was Rin. Instead, she was on top of a very surprised Sesshomaru. Her face turned a thousand shades of red. "Hehe…Sesshomaru…I heard rustling in the bushes and I thought you were Rin. So uh sorry!" She was about to get off of him when Rin burst through the bushes.

"Aowin-chan! I've been wondering where….." Her sentence trailed off as she stared at Sesshomaru and Aowin. Rin blushed and started to run away chanting "Aowin and Sesshomaru!" Aowin jumped off Sesshomaru and helped him up.

"Damn…wait Rin it's not what you think!" She yelled as she ran after the surprisingly fast girl. The whole castle was going to think the wrong thing when they hear Rin. She thought.

She had ended up catching Rin eventually and told her the true story, although Rin still thought Aowin had a thing for Sesshomaru. She sighed. "For the last time, I do not like Sesshomaru." She tucked Rin in and left for her room. She changed into a black loose sleeping kimono with red roses on it, which she had found in her drawer. She yawned and curled up in the cozy blankets. The next morning she woke up face to face with….

Haha a cliff hanger! Don't worry you won't have to wait for long to find out who she saw! Although you can probably guess.


	6. Chapter 6 The Spring Ball

Chapter 6 The Spring Ball

The next morning she woke up face to face with…Sesshomaru! "Ahhhh!" She screamed in surprise and fell off the bed. This caused an irritated Sesshomaru to wake up. "What are you doing here!" Aowin yelled, backing up into the corner of the room.

"This is my room too." Aowin has an anime sweat drop.

"You mean we have to share a room…."

"I'm not happy about it either, but we have to act like we're mates." She sighs. Well at least it's a pretty big bed, so we probably won't even get near each other, she thought.

"I'm going to go take a bath." She picks up some clothes and bath stuff, and walks out the door. She backs steps into the room. "Hehe…where is the baths?" When she had walked out the doors there were 5 different hallways branching off into more hallways. She made a mental note to herself to get a map of this place. Sesshomaru got up and picked out some clothes too and brushed passed her out the door.

"I will take a bath too. Follow me." O.O, there are more than one baths right? She thought. It was amazing how he knew his way around. He hadn't got lost once. Well he does live here, but still…She was interrupted from her thoughts when they reached the baths. She gasped. This was wonderful! The bath water shined rainbow colors like the Northern lights and illuminated off the ceiling, making the whole room glow beautifully. There were also gem studded rocks around the baths and in them where you could rest your head. There were two baths, and they were separated by a large screen, (to Aowin's delight). Each of the baths had miniature waterfalls that made colorful bubbles in the baths. She was at a loss for words. She waited to see what bath Sesshomaru went in to make sure she didn't go in the same one. She hurried to the other one and changed behind a screen.

This was the life. She sighed and dipped herself deeper in the water. She had already washed up and was now relaxing. The glinting of the gems and the churning sound of the waterfall made it seem so peaceful. She wished she could stay here all day, but she knew she could not. If she did, she was afraid Sesshomaru would come to see why she was taking so long, and she definitely did NOT want that to happen! She had come close to dozing off a couple of time but had mentally slapped herself awake for the same reason. She heard water dripping on the other side of the bath and heard clothes shuffling, so she decided it was time to get out.

She wrapped herself in a towel and dried her hair with another. When she was sure Sesshomaru was gone she took off the towel and changed into a blue t-shirt that said "Rae T", black baggy pants, and blue fish net arm warmers. (No she's not punk, but she dresses like one.) She gathered up her stuff and opened the door but banged into Sesshomaru's chest. Apparently he had been waiting for her. "The Spring Ball is in a couple of hours. The lords of the lands have to bring their mates to it, so I suggest you go get ready."

A ball? Oh damn, I hate balls. She thought as she decided what she would wear. The servants gave her suggestions of what to wear, but she wanted to wear the one Miroku gave her. She changed into the blood red Chinese dress that went perfectly with her hair. Then she put her hair up in a bun and put two chopsticks in it, but let her bangs hang out. She hated to dress up like this, but at balls and things like this she did. She was surprised when she looked into the mirror. She looked good…and she usually didn't in dresses. The only make up she wore was rose red lipstick. She wore a pair of red Chinese shoes that matched her dress. When she was done she put the katanna Sango gave her, (which she named Aleira) under her dress.

When she was done she was to meet Sesshomaru at the front door. She was lucky she got ready quick and had time to spare, because she got lost and wondered the castle until someone told her where to go. Sesshomaru was wearing his normal outfit, except he didn't have his armor. She knew he wouldn't comment on how she looked or anything, even though when he saw her his eyes widened and he blushed slightly. "Ready?"

"Yeah, but how will we be getting to this place?"

"Ah and Un.(I hope I spelled it right)" She looked at him blankly.

"What's an Ah and Un?"

She found out Ah and Un was a flying two headed dragon like thing. Flying. Why did they always have to fly? She hated heights. He got on first, and she hesitantly got on behind him. Thankfully, she wore shorts under her dress so she could ride normally, not sitting with her legs on the side. Sesshomaru gave her a questioning look to why she was riding this way but saw the shorts, and she was sure she saw a smirk cross his face. I thought she was tomboy….

When they started to lift off the ground it was ok, but when they went faster and higher she almost fell off and she let out a light scream. She clung to Sesshomaru's back like he was lifeline.

It felt good to feel the wind in her face. After awhile she got used to the speed and the height and let go of him.

The castle was even bigger than Sesshomaru's! And it was even more beautiful. There was a river winding around the castle, and there were gardens in a second ring around the castle. There were dazzling Sakura tree's of different colors in the courtyard, and dozens of fireflies everywhere to light up the scene. It was absolutely gorgeous. She had been snapped back to reality when she saw all the people going in.

She hated being in big parties like this. At her school in her own time, no one but her friends usually noticed her at parties like this, and that was fine by her. But this time she was actually a somebody. She was the lord of the Western lands "mate", so she was sure to get attention. What have I gotten myself into…She thought wearily. When they entered there was a small Jaken looking thing announcing people's names. Oh great…I'm not going to leave this party alive. She thought miserably. There were many youkai here who she had stood up against and made angry, and announcing her would really mess things up for her.

"Lord Sesshomaru, lord of the Western lands, and his mate Aowin, the Midnight Priestess, have arrived!" A hushed silence fell over the crowd when her name was mentioned. She could see many youkai giving her death glares, but they did not attack because she was Sesshomaru's mate, and they knew they would get killed. The silence stayed for awhile as she made her way down the isle with Sesshomaru, making her feel very uneasy. Soon though all eyes left her and the chattering began again. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ah, Sesshomaru. It's so nice to see you again." Aowin looked up and saw a tall youkai fox demon with blue hair that was in a high ponytail (like Koga's), and he had bright yellow eyes. He had a cool looking blue star mark on his forehead. Good thing he wasn't one of the ones who wanted to kill her. He turned his attention towards her. "And is this pretty woman your mate, Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru nodded his head. "You get all the good ones. My name is Suchinzu. I'm the lord of the Eastern lands." He said as he took hold of her hand and kissed it.

"Umm…Nice to meet you." She held out her hand to shake with him. He just stared at it with a confused look on his face. Sesshomaru quickly cut in.

"Aowin is not from here. She greets people differently." Suchinzu chuckled.

"Oh I see." A slightly tubby woman runs over to Suchinzu. "Aowin, I would like you to meet my mate, Serya." Aowin knew what to do now and she bowed politely.

"How do you do?" Serya bows back.

"What a polite girl!" She cooed.

"Thank you." Aowin said blushing.

After Serya and Suchinzu had gone away they had went up to another couple. Crap, this was a couple who hated her. Apparently Sesshomaru knew too because he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close, much to her surprise. The man was a fox youkai and had glowing purple eyes and matching hair that was let down and was down to his shoulders. He also had three blue stripes down his forehead. The woman looked similar. She was a fox demon too and had two stripes down her forehead and was lilac colored. Her hair was down to her knees and was violet, and so were her eyes.

"Sesshomaru, long time no see." The couple greeted Sesshomaru happily then turned to her and glared at her. "I am Venamu, lord of the Southern lands. This is my mate, Meri." They didn't bow, but Aowin bowed in an exaggerated way.

"Nice to meet you." She said with maybe too much sarcasm. They looked like they wanted to kill her right now but they restrained themselves. It took all of Aowin's self control to not kill them too.

Finally, it was time to meet the last lord. But this time they only met the wife. "Hello, nice to meet you! I am Kea. My mate is not with me right now. Maybe you can meet him later." She bowed and Aowin bowed back.

"Thank you I would like to meet him." She's very young for a youkai, Aowin thought. And she looks kind of dazed….It was true. Kea had a strange look about her, as though she wasn't really in control of herself. Kea and her chatted for awhile then Aowin left for the food table. This is what she mainly did at parties. Sesshomaru had wandered off somewhere, probably to meet more people. She wasn't really hungry, so she got some juice and talked to few people until Sesshomaru came over.

"I've been looking for you. It is required that the lords dance with their mates." Aowin nearly fell off the chair.

"W-what! I can't dance!" He didn't listen but dragged her onto the dance floor where the other lords and ladies were dancing. Ok, I just got to keep my cool and follow his steps. I can do this. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she followed suit and wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled her close and she blushed a deep red. It was a slow song so the dance was simple. He's so warm…She thought as she rested her head on his shoulder. Wait, what am I thinking! Bad Aowin! You're not supposed to like him!

After the dance many other guys had asked her, actually almost all the guys had, to her displeasure. When she got back to her chair at the food table she slumped down in it and rubbed her over danced feet. "Why me?" She asked herself.

She heard a slapping sound and looked over to see a servant boy around her age being slapped by one of the youkai. He had black hair that was in a small ponytail Miroku style, and he had crystal blue eyes. It made her angry to see him being abused. He had been slapped so hard his cheek was bleeding. When he came over to clean up the table she went over to him. He backed away fearfully and bowed low. "P-please don't h-hurt me!" He stuttered fearfully.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Please come here." He slowly and hesitantly walked over to her. She touched his cheek lightly and he winced. She knew she couldn't use her powers to help…or could she? Sesshomaru said that the spell would stop her from hurting people to get away from him, he didn't say healing! She concentrated on healing his wound and sure enough green light came flowing down her hand onto his wound and then it was gone.

"W-why did you heal me?" The boy asked surprised, touching his cheek. Aowin smiled.

"I like to help people. Tell me, what is your name?"

"My name is Samu. Thank you for helping me, I am in your debt." He bowed so low his nose touched the ground.

"You are in no debt to me. You do not owe me anything."

Aowin and Samu talked for awhile and he grew more comfortable and stopped being so hidden. "Hey Samu want to dance? You know, as friends?" His eyes grew fearful.

"I-I'm sorry Aowin, but I would get in trouble. Servants aren't supposed to dance." She frowned.

"That's stupid for them to treat you that way. Don't worry; if anyone tried to punish you for that, they'd be punished by me." She smiled reassuringly. "Trust me." He hesitantly took her hand and they went out on the dance floor. He was really tense at first, and then he enjoyed dancing. They earned many stares and whispers from the crowds of people.

"See, was that so bad?" Aowin asked when they were done.

"N-no. Thank you for dancing with me!" She smiled.

"Samu!" Her smile faded when she heard the gruff voice behind her. She spun around to see the youkai who had slapped Samu before. "M-master!" Samu got on his hands and knees and bowed.

"Do not act all innocent you pathetic human! You are not to be noticed at this party! You are to clean up only! You will have to be punished for dancing with Lady Aowin." Samu shuddered.

"P-please master!" The youkai reached for Samu but Aowin stepped in front of him.

"You will not punish Samu. I asked him to dance. It was not him. So punish me then." Samu looked up at her thankfully.

"You asked a worthless slave like him to dance?" He asked surprised.

"Samu is not worthless, so stop treating him like he is! And yes I did, is there a problem? Because if there isn't, could you please go?" There were many gasps. Apparently, she had just insulted an important person. He looked surprised at first, then angry. He was about to say something when Sesshomaru had popped up out of nowhere.

"Please excuse Aowin. Where she comes from they don't have servants, and she does not like thing like that. She did not mean to disgrace you." The youkai's expression changed to a slight smile.

"It's okay. I could tell she wasn't used to it." Sesshomaru nodded and dragged Aowin away.

"Hey what gives! You're not actually going to let him treat Samu that way are you?"

"Samu is his servant, he can do with him what he likes." She was about to retort when she was steered off to meet yet another person. It was a very skinny youkai with flaming red eyes and midnight black hair.

"Oh, Seshomaru! It's nice to meet you again! And Aowin, I've been waiting to meet you! How do you do? I'm Vaya." Aowin bowed to her.

"I'm glad to meet you too." She and Seshomaru talked awhile while Aowin stood gazing at the crowd.

"So how long until you two expect children?" This question caught her off guard, and she did an anime fall.

"A very, very long time." Aowin muttered under her breath, but apparently Vaya heard. Vaya chuckled.

"You don't have a very romantic life do you Aowin?" By now she was blushing cherry red.

"I'll be over there." Aowin said and hurried away from Vaya. She sighed and plopped down in a chair.

"Very stressing isn't it?" She sprang up. She knew that voice. Standing there behind her was Naraku.  
"Naraku!" She growled. She was about to attack him when Vaya came over.

"Ah, Aowin. Have you met Naraku yet? He's the lord of the Northern lands." Aowin didn't bow this time.

"Naraku, would you care to join me for a walk in the gardens?" He got the picture and followed her out side,

When she was sure no one was outside, she took Aleira from under her dress and stanced. "Naraku, what are you doing here?"

"The same reason all the other lords are here."

"So, you controlled Kea to think she's your mate? Whatever, but your not leaving in one piece!" She yelled and lunged at him. He dodged it and all her other attacks. Damn, I really need my powers! Root like things started to come out of him and come at her. She dodged them and cut them but they grew back together. When she wasn't looking one stabbed through her shoulder and another through her stomach. She let out a cry of pain and fell to her knees.

Some people had heard the commotion and were gathered outside to watch the fight. No scratch that, everyone was outside! She winced when one of Naraku's roots wrapped around her and lifted her up. "Ugh!" She struggled. Sesshomaru saw what was happening and he released the spell on her. Aowin felt her power surging back to her. She smirked. "Naraku, now you die!" Blue light encircled her and burst outward, destroying the roots around her. Bad idea. She fell to the ground harshly and broke her ankle. "Damn!" She cried out. I've got to finish him soon. Before the crescent moon…She felt her other side taking over, and she gave into it.

Her eyes glazed over and turned completely blue, and the crescent moon on her forehead glowed blue. She crossed her arms over her chest and blue light started to emit from them. "Die!" She shouted and lashed out her arms sending blades of blue light towards Naraku. They hit him square in the chest and he turned to dust. She stumbled over towards him and picked up the wooden figure with the hair on it. "A demon puppet…" She growled. She had not killed the real Naraku.

Someone had ushered everyone inside and away from Aowin. She limped to a part of the garden where the moonlight from the crescent moon shone and stood in it. "It's time." Aowin said sadly. Sesshomaru had come out and was watching her strangely.

Aowin's screams filled the night air as invisible forces cut all over her body. Her body was beat this way and that as she got slashed and stabbed. Sesshomaru rushed over to see what was happening but got thrown back by a barrier. When it stopped she blacked out and fell forward. She expected she would black out eventually, but what she had not expected was for Sesshomaru to catch her.

Omg I'm so sorry for how long it is! There was a lot to put in this chapter! Anyways I hope you enjoy it!


	7. Chapter 7 The Mating Mark

Chapter 7 The Mating Mark

"Ngh.." When Aowin woke up she was in Sesshomaru's room from what she could see, and had a really bad headache. "Hm? Why am I here?" She tried to recall the night's events. Oh yeah, it was the night of the crescent moon yesterday…She thought. She tried to sit up but found it too painful. She scanned herself to see the damage done. She could barely see her skin there were so many bandages. She wasn't in the clothes she was in the night of the Spring Ball….if that bastard Sesshomaru changed her he was so dead!  
"So you're awake?" She jumped at the sound of his voice. She had been so preoccupied with the previous night that she hadn't noticed he had come in.

"You really like pointing out the obvious a lot." She was in no mood to talk to him. She got really upset when she had to be bed ridden because of being a midnight priestess. He ignored her and sat on the edge of her I mean "their" bed. "How long have I been asleep?"

"2 weeks." Aowin did an anime fall.

"WHAT! I was out for 2 weeks! Crap?" She stopped screaming immediately. It hurt to scream…o.o. Sesshomaru just stared at her with an amused look in his eyes.

"Do you find my anger amusing! I'm going to be freakin bed ridden for like, weeks and you think it's funny? I can't believe you! How coldhearted are you? And who changed me! It better have been a maid!" She babbled on.

"To answer your first question yes, your anger is amusing. And a maid did change you." She panted from talking on and on without breathing. Phew, so it was a maid. "Now it's my turn to ask a question. What happened to you?" Was he worried? She snorted, yeah right.

"What do you care?"

"This Sesshomaru does not care. I am merely curious." There he goes with the third person thing again.

"If you really want to know, it's kind of like a curse. There was once a midnight priestess named Aouinu, who went to many villages and healed the needy ones, until she was too weakened to use her powers for awhile. Then she came across many villages that had many dead and dying people who really needed her. She made a vow to them that since she didn't have enough energy to heal them, she would take their wounds from them and put them upon herself." She paused, then continued. "So every night on the night of the crescent moon all the midnight priestesses take in the wounds of the people Aouinu vowed to. The midnight priestesses used to split up the share, so that the wounds weren't this great. But now since I'm the only one left, I take them all in."

Sesshomaru stared at her with a strange look in his eyes. Was it…respect? No, it couldn't be! "Can you choose to not take in the wounds?"

"Yes, but it would be very dishonorable. We always think of others before ourselves." He was quiet for awhile. She was starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze.

"So you put yourself in so much pain, knowing that there is no one to punish you if you choose the easy way out? Mortals are strange creatures." She gawked at him. Why that insolent little…

"Don't talk about humans as if they are things! How ignorant are you?" He smirked at Aowin's anger. There he goes again! Is my anger really that amusing? That bastard!

"You're more loyal than you look. Perhaps you're not that bad." What the heck? "The maids will be up to bring you food and to take you to the baths. You will be required and escort to help you walk." He said before he walked out.

"What the- I'm not that helpless! No way am I going to be followed wherever I go!" She sighed knowing it was useless. This was going to a long day.

The maids came in a little while later and had tried to feed Aowin since she could barely move because she hurt so much, but Aowin had refused help and had done it herself. She had got the food everywhere but her mouth. Next they had taken her to the baths and tried to help her undress and bathe her, but she had refused all help to that and had made them leave the room. She should have accepted help, because she had moved so clumsily and forcefully that her wounds had opened again and the bathtub water was filled with blood. She had somehow managed to put her bandages back on and get her clothes on without help, but she ached afterward. The only thing she allowed the maids to do was help her walk.

The maids had dropped her off at the library after her baths and she was flitting through books. They actually had pretty interesting books. She suspected them all to be fine literature and stuff like that. When she was done it was late at night and when she got back to the room there was no one there. "He's probably out killing someone or something." She mumbled to herself as she changed into a black cotton sleeping kimono with red cherry blossoms all over it. (She wore kimonos to sleep even if they weren't from her time.)

She was about to lay down when she heard deep breathing. Shit he is here! It was so dark she didn't notice he was here. Did he see her changing?

"Sesshomaru…Sesshomaru?" She poked him. He didn't stir. "Phew." She breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly stopped. She just noticed how much of the bed he was taking up. His arm was swung across her side, and his body was facing her side. If she lay down she would be face to face with him and her body would be pressed up against his. And she didn't dare move him; she didn't want to deal with Sesshomaru this late at night. 2 choices. One: Sleep close to Sesshomaru on the bed and say she didn't know how she got there. Two: Sleep on the hard, cold floor.

She curled up in a ball on the floor trying to stay warm. This was impossible. She had been laying there for hours and she still couldn't get to sleep. She also ached and hurt so much that she didn't think she could get to sleep no matter where she was. But it would probably help to be on a warm bed… She glanced at the bed again. One good thing was he had moved his arm and had scooted back a bit. Hmm…If I stay close to the edge we won't even touch. She thought.

She painfully got up and crawled into the bed, careful to avoid making contact with Sesshomaru. Ahh...this felt much better. She felt herself dozing off and surrendered to sleep.

She woke up when she felt something warm wrap around her. She groggily opened her eyes and found out what the warm thing was. Sesshomaru's arm! He had scooted closer! The pervert. Wait, it was her who had scooted closer! She was used to hugging something in her sleep, so she had cuddled up to him. Her chest was on his stomach and her head was on his chest. Crap…How am I supposed to explain this? He suddenly pulled her in closer to him, making her blush deep red. "Um Sesshomaru I can explain you see…" He held his finger to her lips motioning for her to be quiet. Aowin gave him a questioning look.

He nuzzled her neck but made it look like he was still doing that while whispered in her ear, "Some people are getting suspicious to why we seem so far apart. They're watching us." Now she got it, the other lords and other important people thought they didn't show enough love. They were catching on to their plan. Sure enough, she could see eyes peeking through their door. Damn, they were being spied on? She played along and embraced Sesshomaru, even though it hurt like hell to move. She heard satisfied whispers from the door then she saw the eyes move away.

Aowin quickly pulled away from Sesshomaru once they were gone. "Damn people…spying on us!" She sighed, irritated. "This isn't working out...they're really suspicious. How do we get them to stop being so suspicious!" I had to hug Sesshomaru! I hope I never have to do that again.

"You don't have the mating mark yet. That's why they are so suspicious."

"O.O What's a mating mark?" He ignored her again.

"Lord Suchinzu and Serya have invited me to their castle. I will be back by noon." Aowin jumped up but winced and crumpled back on the bed. Finally she could get out of this place!

"Ooh I'll go with!" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her.

"You are too injured to go." She pouted.

"No really I'm fine! Please can I go! I've been cooped up here too long! Please!" Sesshomaru sighed. He knew if he didn't take her she would bug him until he did, or worse. Go herself.

"Fine. Meet me at the stairs."

"Haha!" She shouted in joy. After he left she changed into a long black yukata that had the Japanese symbol for friendship printed on the front in red letters. It also had red blossoms going down the sleeves. She then put on black flat Chinese shoes and wandered out the door. You'd think after staying at this castle for a month she would know her way around, but unfortunately no. She met an impatient Sesshomaru at the stairs. "Hehe, I got lost. Sorry." He growled annoyed but did nothing else. He paused and she waited.

"…..Are you waiting for something?"

"Does it hurt you to walk?" Where was this going…?

"Yes, but I can handle it."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not!" He picked her up bridal style much to her dismay and began running at full speed.

"Ack! Let me go!" She was no damsel in distress, she could walk!

"This way is quicker. You won't slow me down." She snorted, but didn't complain anymore.

It had taken them only an hour to get there, and as soon as they did Aowin hopped out of his arms. "Much better…" She grumbled to herself. Serya had run out of the castle and had greeted Aowin by hugging her, which made Aowin go stiff. She had only met this woman once and she was acting like they were childhood friends? Suchinzu had bowed to Aowin and gave Sesshomaru a nod of his head.

"Lord Sesshomaru, we have many things to discuss. Aowin, you can accompany Serya until we are done." Aowin nodded and followed Serya to the kitchen.

Serya fixed them up some raspberry tea and motioned for Aowin to sit by her. "Thank you very much." She said taking the tea thankfully. Its warmth soothed her, she was so stressed out.

"So how have you been Aowin?"

"Good, you?" Serya smiled at her warmly.

"I've been fine, thank you." Aowin noticed 2 bite marks on Serya's neck when she turned her head.

"Serya, if you don't mind me asking, what's that on your neck?" Serya poked the part on her neck Aowin had seen.

"This? It's my mating mark."

"I've been meaning to ask you, what's a mating mark? Sesshomaru won't tell me." Serya chuckled.

"No I didn't think he would. He's not one to talk like that. A mating mark is the mark that your mate gives you, and it declares you're their mate and theirs only. So no other person can have you."

"So the mating mark protects you?"

"Kind of. Oh, I see Sesshomaru still hasn't marked you." Aowin blushed.

"No he hasn't. So all they have to do is bite you?"

"Well no, to make it official they have to have sex with you, them mark you." Aowin flushed a deep red at that first part. No way in HELL was Sesshomaru going to touch her. Serya chuckled again. "I see this subject makes you uneasy. Do you not want to do that with Sesshomaru?" Aowin flushed even deeper so she looked like a cherry.

"Well, not really. I'm still a virgin, and I've never even had my first kiss. I'm not a very romantic person." Serya was looking at her with understanding.

"If it makes you feel any better, it probably won't happen anytime soon. Sesshomaru is like that too. Maybe even more than you." Sesshomaru was! Well, she knew he didn't love, but Sesshomaru is pretty good looking. It's strange he couldn't get a girl…What am I thinking! I hate him! He doesn't look good! She was shaking her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her head. Serya sighed. Sesshomaru will have to mark her soon. She needs to become his official mate, or something bad could happen. Not to mention the other lords are getting suspicious to why he hasn't marked her…poor girl, Serya thought.

Meanwhile Sesshomaru was having a similar talk with Suchinzu.

"Sesshomaru, why have you not marked her yet? You know what will happen if you don't soon-"

"I know the consequences, Suchinzu. But she is not ready yet. She is only 15. She's not even an adult." Sesshomaru sighed and rubbed his head. Why did she have to be so young? He needed to mark her, but she was not going to be ready. This was stressing him out greatly.

"I know what you mean Sesshomaru. I can smell it on her. Not a very romantic love life. Take it slow with her. You still have time. You have 2 weeks before it is required she is your mate permanently." Sesshomaru growled irritated. It was not as easy as it looks getting her to love him for real in 2 weeks. Maybe so with other girls, but this one was too stubborn. This is going to be a long 2 weeks, he thought gloomily.

"Thanks for letting us come over!" Aowin shouted as her and Sesshomaru hopped on Ah Un.

"Please come over more often!" Serya shouted back.

"I'll be sure to." She shouted back before they took off. As soon as they were far away from the castle, Aowin decided to test her luck. "Hey Sesshomaru, what will happen if you don't mark me?" Sesshomaru groaned. He knew she was going to ask sooner or later. Might as well answer her.

"Other demons will try to claim you-"

"Feh, if anyone tried that I'd beat them to a bloody pulp with or without my powers. I can take care of myself, you know." Aowin interrupted him. She sounded so much like Inuyasha just then…

"And, the other lords might find out that we are faking mates, and will kill us both."

"Wait…I'm not gonna actually be your mate! This was supposed to be fake!" He sighed.

"Don't worry, if there's another option, I'll take it."

A little while later, Aowin tried again. "Sesshomaru, you took the spell away, but why did you not put it back on me?"

"I think I can trust you to not run away. Besides, I could catch you easily. Also, you're too injured to use your powers, or run too far." She smiled, and leaned her head on Sesshomaru's shoulder. He looked at her surprised, she was doing this of her own free will. He smirked, maybe this would be easier than he thought.

Sorry it took so long to get out. I've been busy. I made it long to make up for the wait. Enjoy!


	8. Chapter 8 Blood of Impurity

Chapter 8 Blood of Impurity

Aowin rolled over in her bed. After she had gotten back from visiting Serya she had gone straight to bed. She remembered laying her head on Sesshomaru's shoulder and blushed. She had surprised both herself and Sesshomaru when she did that. Strange enough, Sesshomaru hadn't shrugged her off, and no one had been watching either. Unless there were, for some strange reason, video cameras hidden somewhere even though it was the feudal era. Why had she even hugged him? She hated him! She reminded herself. She turned onto her other side. She growled angrily. She couldn't get it off her mind! She was all wet, probably from sweat. No, wait…it was blood! Crap, her wounds reopened. So that was the pain she had been feeling.

Aowin sighed and decided she was going to take a soothing bath to calm her mind and wounds. She grabbed a fresh kimono and some ace bandages and limped off to the baths. Her ankle was still broken thanks to Sesshomaru.

The baths were more beautiful than she remembered! Well, it was morning last time she came, and they were probably more relaxing at night. The aurora lights danced playfully across the ceiling and the baths. She carefully undressed, making sure she didn't hurt herself. She wondered how she reopened her wounds, she was fine when she lay in bed, and she hadn't fallen asleep so she couldn't have done it in her sleep. She pushed the matter aside and waded into the steaming water. She leaned against the rock and closed her eyes. Yes, this was much better. She almost dozed off when she heard movement. She shot her head up and spun around. Sesshomaru was standing by the bath staring at her!

"Eep!" She wrapped her arms around herself and dove into the water so that only the top of her nose and up were out of water. "What the heck are you doing here! Don't just stand there looking at me! LEAVE!" She practically screamed. He seemed to snap back to reality and blushed a little, but he didn't turn. What was up with him? How could her body be so interesting when it was shredded to bits? "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that." He walked closer to where she was in the pool.

"Same reason as you." She noticed him come closer so she backed away farther and deeper into the water. "Ummm…what are you doing?" He was reaching out towards her. If he was going to do what she thought he was…that pervert! She got ready to hit his hand away when he handed her a towel. "Huh?" She took it carefully. Maybe she underestimated him.

"Here. When you're done come with me." When he left she dried off, put some fresh bandages on, got dressed in a red kimono with gold dragons, and then went to join him.

He was waiting outside the doors to the baths.

"What do you want?" She asked coldly. She was still angry about him staring at her like that.

"I'm going to take you somewhere." She eyed him suspiciously.

"Where is that?" He glanced at her.

"You'll see. I think you'll like it." Still suspicious, she followed him out the front gates. When they were out he picked her up bridal style and leaped off. Aowin still hated him doing that, but she didn't complain. They had been jumping for a few minutes when he set her down at a grassy clearing with a meadow. She was at a loss for words. It was amazing! The meadow had a mini waterfall that made happy gurgling sounds, and that churned the water making it shine as it swirled around. The whole meadow seemed to glow blue. There were fireflies flying around the meadow, illuminating their faces.

"It's beautiful! Thanks for showing me this!" She said happily. The meadow had changed her mood from irritated and angry to happy and relaxed.

"I thought you would like it." He said walking up beside her.

She wished she could just stare at it all day long. It made her feel so relaxed. She subconsciously leaned sideways onto Sesshomaru's arm. Bad choice. Sesshomaru wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close to his chest.

"Sesshomaru, are there people watching us?" She asked questioningly.

"No." He answered simply. Ok, this was way too weird! Cold hearted Sesshomaru is doing this of his own free will! She tried to pull away from him, but he held her fast. Why was he hugging this human? He did not know, but he felt like he just needed to embrace her and never let go. Only when he heard her pained cry did he let her go. She massaged her chest. It hurt so much, why!

She opened the kimono a bit, and gasped at what she saw. Her blood was coming out of the bandages and was forming a Red Crescent moon on her chest. When it was complete it turned green and it started burning. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground screaming. Sesshomaru ran over to her and tugged her hands away from her chest to see. His eyes widened. What was happening to her?

Her blood trailed off in stems from the moon and started to wrap around her chest and back. The crescent moon and stems started to tighten and press against her body, as though trying to get into it. It burst through her skin and blood spurted out as it went into her body. She screamed so loud he thought people from America could hear. He tried to stop the mark from going inside her, bit it was imprinted in her skin. He couldn't do anything. Her screams died down when it disappeared into her skin. Her entire kimono was drenched with blood, and so was the ground and Sesshomaru.

Her face was whiter than snow and she was shaking severely. Almost all the blood in her was gone. She should've been dead from blood loss by now. She was crying into the front of his kimono. "S-sesshom-aru…I'm afraid…" He had never seen her this weak before. She was sobbing uncontrollably into his blood soaked shirt. No matter how much pain she had been through, she had never cried. This scared him that she was crying now. Everything started to go black, and she passed out in Sesshomaru's arms.

When Aowin woke up she was in her room. How many times was she going to wake up in here? She couldn't move at all this time, and she could barely speak. She hurt greatly in her chest, and she remembered what happened. She started sobbing again even though it hurt to. Sesshomaru heard Aowin's sobbing and ran to their room. "Aowin, are you ok?" She glared at him in response. Wasn't that obvious.

"S-esshomaru…please come lay by me please…I don't feel safe without someone near me." He was surprised by this, but he went a laid down by her. The moment his head hit the pillow she flung herself on him and sobbed. He put his arm over her shaking form. She sounded like she was trying to say something, but nothing came out because of her sobbing.

"Aowin, what happened to you?" She sniffed and took a deep breath.

"I…I don't know…but I think I have an idea." She took another deep breath then continued.

"I had heard a rumor about something called the "Blood of Impurity". It is supposed that those that are impure, like myself, would get that mark on them, and it would go inside them and wrap around their heart. It would squeeze until it destroyed the person's heart. I thought it was nonsense at first, but I was wrong." She shivered and buried her head in Sesshomaru's chest.

"You are a priestess though. Why would you be impure?" She scoffed.

"Not all who would seem pure are pure. I'm the farthest thing from it. Want to know truly what my purpose is?" He nodded his head. "I am merely a toy of fate's hand, to be played. Each time I do good, I bring danger. Each time I bring danger, I do good. This necklace contains my soul and life in it. If it were shattered, I would die. I cannot die any other way though. So I am forced to live on while the loved ones around me die. I could not will myself to die. It is a terrible fate." She sighed, then continued.

"Each night on the crescent moon I take people wounds away, doing good. But then I and forced to have someone care for me, putting them in danger. I am a danger to everyone. If someone got hold of my necklace, they could will me to do anything. To kill the ones I loved, and I would enjoy it. Also, I cannot control my powers. Another reason why I am a danger. I can do good and subconsciously destroy the enemy and not my friends, but I can do evil and subconsciously destroy everything and everyone in my path and not be able to stop."

She started crying again. "I hate myself! I hate my life! I have almost killed my friends before, and I might do it again! I wish nothing more than to die, so everyone can be happy!" Sesshomaru lifted her chin up so she would look at him.

"Do not say such things. Death isn't the only way out. So do not throw away your life so foolishly!" Aowin pulled back her chin from his hand and frowned.

"Do you want to know what I saw while I got the Blood of Impurity inside me? I saw everyone I cared for being tortured! In the worst ways! Then being killed terribly! And you know who was doing it! ME!" She screamed at him.

"You, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Kirara, Shippo, my family and friends, everyone! I will do that to all of you if I do not die! Do you see now why I wish it so?" He was taken aback by her shouts. He was having a hard time processing all of this. She was right; he would probably wish to die too. She calmed down a bit and rubbed her sore throat. "The Blood of Impurity will painfully and slowly start to kill me unless I break the spell. The only way is to become pure. But I do not know how. Every time I try to something good, it turns out the wrong way." She let out a scream as the Blood of Impurity tightened around her heart, squeezing blood out.

He finally managed to take everything she had said in. He had not known how much pain she had to go through. He also had not known the risks he had put himself in. Aowin had stopped sobbing and was now curled up in a ball trying to wish the pain away. Sesshomaru heard a knock at the door and went to answer it. It was Doss. He was bowing and trembling. "Lord Sesshomaru. So sorry to disturb you, but Inuyasha is here. He demands to see Lady Aowin."

Sesshomaru growled annoyingly. His annoying little half-brother was here. "Don't let him in." Too late. He heard the crashing of doors and heard Inuyasha's angry stomps.

"Sesshomaru! Where the hell is Aowin!" Inuyasha drew tessaiga out.

"Little brother, I wondered if you were ever going to come."

"Shut up!" Inuyasha's group had caught up to him and was peering through doors for Aowin.

"Everyone…I missed you." Everyone turned their attention to Aowin who was bracing herself against the doorway.

"Aowin!" Kagome and Sango ran to hold her up.

"Sesshomaru! What did you do to her you bastard?"

"Inuyasha…Sesshomaru didn't hurt me…get off his back…" Aowin said weakly.

"Aowin, then what happened to you?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"I'll explain later." Inuyasha was about to lunge at his brother and tear him to shreds.

"Kagome could you please stop Inuyasha?" Kagome nodded her head.

"Inuyasha, SIT BOY!" There was a muffled cry as Inuyasha stopped in midair and came crashing to the floor, leaving a crater.

"Sesshomaru…please…can they stay…I need to explain to them." Sesshomaru stared amusedly at his unconscious brother and thought for a minute.

"Do what you like." He said yes? I didn't expect him to actually do it! But then again, Inuyasha won't leave anyways until they get me back so he doesn't have much choice…Sango and Kagome helped Aowin up and the followed Sesshomaru while Miroku helped up the still unconscious Inuyasha. She had a lot to tell them.


	9. Chapter 9 Sesshomaru in Love?

Chapter 9 Sesshomaru in Love?

They had all took to the library to converse since the servants hardly went there, they would have no eavesdropping. After Inuyasha had become conscious Sesshomaru had been shooting him evil little smirks. Inuyasha gulped. Damn, he knows my weakness….the "s" word! Inuyasha thought, distressed. Kagome decided to break the evil staring contest the two brothers were having.

"So Aowin, what happened to you? You shouldn't even be able to move with those injuries. Who gave them to you?" Glad for some sound other than the brother's growling, she answered.

"Well Sesshomaru broke my ankle." At which that point Inuyasha looked like he could kill.

"And I have some injuries from Naraku-" Inuyasha snapped his head her way.

"When'd you meet him!" Anime sweat drop from Aowin.

"That was quite awhile ago Inuyasha, and it was just a puppet. Now as I was saying, I also got most of them from the crescent moon, and the Blood of Impurity." They all gave her confused looks.

After she explained to them what happened they had a horde of questions for her. "So this "Blood of Impurity" kills you slowly until you break it?" She answered Miroku with a nod of her head.

"I don't know how to break it though. This sucks."

"You can't die, you told us yourself, so what's the problem?" Aowin sighed at Inuyasha.

"You've got a point. You see I don't really die. It's more like it destroys my heart. Then it would be worse than death. I'd be walking around a heartless person. The curse would make me beg for death." She said through gritted teeth.

"Can't you heal yourself of it?" Shippou asked in his adorable little voice. She smiled a bitter smile at him.

"I wish, but this is beyond my healing abilities." She answered hoarsely. Kirara hopped onto Aowin's shoulder and nuzzled her neck reassuringly. She smiled slightly and stroked Kirara's fur.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Sango asked. She could not bear to see her friend in such pain. She could see Aowin wincing every so often either from her wounds or of the "Blood of Impurity".

"I don't think there is anything anyone can do about it except find out how to break it. Thanks though." Sango sighed dejectedly.

"Would the curse still have effect if you went back to your time?" Inuyasha suggested. Aowin pondered for a moment.

"I dun know. I can't try anyways, because a certain someone won't let me leave." She turned her gaze upon Sesshomaru, as everyone else was doing.

"Feh, we don't need to have his permission. We're taking you away from him whether he likes it or not." Inuyasha said lazily, as if it wasn't a matter to ponder over.

"Is that a threat, little brother?" Sesshomaru taunted Inuyasha into battle. It worked. Inuyasha drew his tessaiga and pointed it at Sesshomaru.

"You bet." Everyone sighed. They were itching for a fight all day; you could sense it in the air. Then Kagome asked the dreaded question.

"Why do you need Aowin anyways, Sesshomaru?" Aowin tensed up. He wasn't going to answer was he?

"This Sesshomaru does not need to explain himself to humans like you." He said simply, shrugging it off.

This time it was Aowin's turn to speak up. "Inuyasha is right, Sesshomaru. I don't need your permission. As soon as I heal enough, I'm going back to my time to see if it works. Besides, I'm no use to you if I'm dead am I?" She said in a cold voice that was so unlike her own. Even Sesshomaru looked surprised at her tone.

"What do you mean use for you? What does he need you for?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her. Aowin gulped, wishing she had not said anything.

"Umm…nothing Inuyasha. "Use for me" was just a way of saying something, you know…guys help me out here!" She begged the rest of the group. They were just as curious as Inuyasha was, so they weren't going to help. Aowin sighed in defeat.

"Fine if you really want to know. Sesshomaru needs a mate or he loses his position as lord of the Western lands. There was no one else powerful enough to be his mate, so he captured me. Since he put a spell on me that held back my powers, I couldn't escape. So we decided to be fake mates. There have been some problems though…" Aowin muttered the last part.

"Sesshomaru, you know you can't fake mate." Inuyasha stared at his brother like he was stupid. How is my brother so dumb? He knows that you can't fake mate. Fake mating can bring death. And you can't get away with it either, because unless Aowin is marked they'll know…Inuyasha thought angrily. Sesshomaru spoke up for the first time.

"I know that, Inuyasha. I was going to have her temporarily be my "mate". At least until the events are over. But since she has been unconscious for most of the events, it is taking longer. I do not wish to really mate her. I will find another way." Sesshomaru seemed confident, but Aowin saw he was unsure.

"Keh, there is no other way. You know that, so drop your pride. The only way is to really mate Aowin." They all stared at Inuyasha with disbelief.

"You're saying I should mate him?" Aowin tried to shout at him, but it only came out in a hoarse whisper. It was amazing she was even able to move, if only very little. It was only her stubbornness and persistence keeping her from dropping to the ground.

"I'm not saying you should. And I sure as hell won't let it happen. I'm telling him that he got himself into this and the only way out is to mate you, or die."

"Then I guess he'll just have to die then!" She said stubbornly.

"You know that you would have to die too you know Aowin." Sango bravely put in.

"Remember Sango, I've got a secret weapon. If they don't know how to kill me, then they can't kill me." She said proudly, as if she had just come up with the best plan in the world.

"Remember the Blood of Impurity? You'd be so badly injured that you couldn't find the answer and it would destroy your heart." Aowin stopped laughing in triumph immediately. A flaw in her plan.

"Yeah, but…but…there's no way in HELL I'm mating him!" She pointed an accusing finger at Sesshomaru. Kagome gave a loud gasp which made everyone turn their attention to her.

"Oh, sorry…" Kagome gave a little blush. She had been reading her history book up until now and had just discovered something important it seemed.

"I uh…have good news." She said timidly. "I just remembered from school the other day. The teacher mentioned something about a heart problem called "Blood Impure". It seemed like the same thing Aowin has, except a little different. There was a rhyme given to help solve the problem." She cleared her throat. "It goes like this:

To cleanse yourself of Blood Impure

You must have the power to endure

When love is hate and hate is love

You will be given a gift from above

How do you know whose friend or foe

Hear their screams and you will know

When all is lost and all is gained

You must face immortal pain

But do not feel any shame

For sacrifice will play its game"

When Kagome finished all eyes were wide with surprise and their mouths were practically dropped to the floor. Except Sesshomaru who was surprised of course, but did not show it. "Wh-what does it mean?" Aowin asked shakily. She did not like the sound of the rhyme. Kagome looked down at he ground, hiding her eyes.

"I don't know. All I know is that our teacher told us it was a heart disease that only certain people got cursed with. I'm sorry I can't be much help." Aowin forced a smile.

"No Kagome, it really helped. Now we have a clue what to do. We just have to find out what the rhyme means." Aowin sighed. "I've never been much good at rhymes though." Shippo and Rin, who had been sent out while everyone discussed the problem, were timidly peeking through the doors. Shippou and Rin were very worried for Aowin, so they had been eavesdropping. Shippo thought of Aowin as a sister, and Rin thought of Aowin as a mother.

"Lord Sesshomaru, me and Shippo could try to help figure out the rhyme." Rin suggested.

"Yeah, I'm good at rhymes." Shippou supported her.

"Feh, your just kids."

"No Inuyasha they have a point. They should be better at rhymes than we are. They are kids you know. Kids are always doing poems and rhymes for fun." Aowin said thoughtfully. It hurt her to move her mouth and talk, but she fought off the pain, even though it felt like her skin was being ripped apart.

"Ok, give us what you got." Shippo nodded at Rin then began to speak his words carefully.

"We think we know the beginning. "To cleanse yourself of Blood Impure, you must have the power to endure." That's simple enough. You must be able to take the pain and whatever else the Blood of Impurity has in store for you." Rin continued his sentence.

"And "When love is hate and hate is love", I think it means that those you love you will hate, and those you hate you will love. And that's all we got." Inuyasha looked at them impressed.

"You kids are smarter than you look." Inuyasha commented.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded.

"Hey I was giving them a comment!" Inuyasha retorted back.

"Well it didn't sound like one!" She shouted. This argument continued for about 5 minutes until someone was brave enough to shut them up. Which unfortunately was Miroku and he got shouted at and bonked on the head.

"Ouch." Miroku mumbled as he held the icepack on his head.

"Keh, you shouldn't have interfered monk." Miroku glared at him.

"You didn't have to hit so hard Inuyasha."

"Feh." Aowin clapped her hands together to get their attention but found out that hurt.

"Back on subject people! So the first part means that I must endure whatever pain the Blood of Impurity holds for me. Also, I will switch between my friends and my enemies. But this isn't helping me." Aowin rubbed her head in frustration. None of this was telling her how to get rid of it!

"I think I know what "And you will be given a gift from above", means Aowin." Sango's face looked white. And she had a haunted look on her face. Aowin did not like the looks of this. "Well, women of my village often consider a child a gift from the heavens. I think that what the rhyme means is that you will hate you friends for some reason, the one's you love. And the one you hate, Sesshomaru, you will love. And you will have his child." Everyone was looking pale now, and dazed. Aowin took a deep breath, and everyone covered their ears, for they knew what was coming.

"HELL NO AM I HAVING THE CHILD OF THAT BASTARD! HELL NO I SAY! AND THERE IS NOTHING NO BLOOD OF IMPURITY CURSE CAN DO ABOUT IT!" Aowin finished her screaming and was panting from the effort. Sesshomaru had the unfortunate ness of not knowing Aowin for very long; therefore not knowing she was going to blow. And he was now cringing and holding his ears. When it was safe everyone else unplugged their ears. Sesshomaru glared at them.

"You could have warned me." Inuyasha smirked at him.

"It's funny to watch you in pain." The brothers glared at each other. Sesshomaru turned to Aowin who was still panting and clutching her throat.

"I do not intend to make you have my child. Believe me, it's the last thing I want." She glared at him then smirked.

"Good thing we're on the same page. Are you absolutely sure Sango that that's what it means?" She pleaded with her friend. Sango sighed.

"It's just a theory, but I think it means that. If you think there's another way, try it."

"That's the problem, I don't know what else it could mean. Does anyone else have ideas?" Everyone shook their head no. She sighed. "No other ideas, great. But still, I'd rather have my heart destroyed then mate him." She said with hatred dripping from the word.

"The feeling is mutual." He said in a bored tone. It was silent for a few more moments, then Inuyasha spoke up.

"So what now? If you're not going to mate him, and you're not going to have your heart destroyed, what will you do?" Aowin grinned half heartedly.

"Find another way, or die trying."

"Feh, you always did want to have your way." Inuyasha grinned back.

"Me, what about you?"

"And what about me?" Aowin made a fake scowl.

"You really are as dull as you look." She chuckled hoarsely. More silence…

Aowin sighed. She had been making decisions in her head and had come to a conclusion no matter how much she hated it. "I-I do not wish to have my heart destroyed, and to walk around as a heartless body, unable to die and take away the emptiness." Everyone looked at her shocked, and Inuyasha snapped out of it and anger covered his face.

"So you're just going to mate him, no matter how much you hate him!" Aowin glared at him and stood up.

"Don't act like I haven't thought this over, Inuyasha! Do you actually think I want this?" Aowin was crying now. "Tell me, Inuyasha! Would you rather be a heartless cruel being and walk on without a purpose, or mate the person you hate?" Inuyasha hated it when women cried, it always had and effect on him. But not today. He would not let Aowin throw her life away to his cruel, heartless brother.

"I'd rather lose my heart!" Inuyasha yelled stubbornly. Kagome sighed, Inuyasha didn't really mean that. He meant the opposite. Aowin gaped at Inuyasha.

"Aowin, he doesn't-"

"Don't tell me he doesn't mean it! He's already told me how he feels! He obviously wants me to suffer this fate! He wants me to have a tortured life!" Inuyasha was the one with the gaping mouth now. He hadn't meant that, he wanted to find another way for her. Inuyasha tried to say something but was cut off. "Shut up! I don't want to hear it! I don't want to do it either, but I could harm you if I don't do what the rhyme says! I couldn't forgive myself if I became heartless and hurt you! I only have one other choice! So if you want me to go against the rhyme and destroy myself and you guys, then I guess you're not true friends!"

Aowin's voice was barely above a whisper it was so hoarse. The gang were all wide eyed and hurt. They didn't want her to hurt, it wasn't like that! "Aowin, don't be rash! We want you to have a good life! We didn't want you to get hurt!" Miroku said soothingly. Aowin just ignored him and stomped to the library door and slammed it open.

"You'll be going now!" She whispered coldly. Sesshomaru was watching the whole scene with interest. He did not want to mate Aowin, but one part of him was glad of her decision. What is this feeling, he wondered. He watched as Aowin forcefully shoved Inuyasha out the door, but was gentler with her other friends.

When Aowin got back she crumpled onto the chair and cried her heart out. Sesshomaru came over and sat by her. She scooted away as he sat. "Go away! I despise you; I despise my so called "friends". Why does my life have to be like this?" She wept. Sesshomaru ignored her and he grabbed her arm. She looked at him confused than glared at him ready to shout again. He swiftly yanked her arm until half of her was on his chest, than he gently pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes widened, and she struggled to get away, then she seemed to fall into it and couldn't pull away.

Why am I kissing this mortal? I do not feel anything for her. But that is not true…I feel a strange emotion, one I have never felt before…is it love? Aowin gasped, her first kiss stolen by a man she didn't love, or did she? When they broke away Aowin stared into his eyes for a moment, then rested her head on his chest and drifted away into sleep. She was exhausted from yelling and from the fact that she had moved when she shouldn't have.

Sesshomaru stared down at the girl in his arms. She was so warm and soft, he never wanted to let her go. Why do I feel like this? I swore I would never love, especially not a human. But I do feel passion for her. I must try to get rid of this emotion! But all he could think about was Aowin. He gently lifted her and carried her to their room, then laid her down upon their bed. She was so cute when she slept. No! Bad Sesshomaru! You're supposed to forget your feelings! But he couldn't, so instead he brushed some hair from her face and walked away.


	10. Chapter 10 Slowly Emerging Feelings

Chapter 10 Slowly Emerging Feelings

When Aowin awoke her head still hurt from yesterday. She tried to sit up but found it too painful and plopped back down. Memories of the night before flooded back to her. The problem, the rhyme, the yelling, the argument, the kiss. Oh my gosh the kiss, she had totally forgot!

She was feeling way too many emotions at once. Fear that Sesshomaru thought she loved him, anger that she let him kiss her, confusion that he kissed her, and sadness of what her "friends" would think. She brushed her fingers against her lips and blushed. She didn't think she could stand to see him. Well she couldn't walk anyways, which meant she couldn't go down to breakfast which meant she wouldn't have to see him. Unless he came back to his room for some reason.

Aowin heard the door slowly creak open. Speak of the devil he came. She thought as Sesshomaru entered the room. She flushed a deep magenta as he stared at her. "Well what do you want?" She asked not in a rude way, but in a can't-you-see-I'm-uncomfortable-around-you way.

"I was wondering why you hadn't come down for breakfast."

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm a little unable to." Her wounds had reopened when she was arguing with Inuyasha. (Yes I know her wounds tend to never stay closed.) "I'm not hungry anyways." Aowin quickly added in case he called some maids to help her to the dining room, which she hated.

A few more minutes went by, and they just sat there staring at each other. Aowin was getting redder each second and Sesshomaru was apparently trying to see how long she'd hold up before she turned into a cherry. She wasn't going to lose and let him have that satisfaction. "If you have something to say, say it but if you don't, leave."

"Rin wants to accompany you today if you're feeling alright." Why couldn't he say that before! He had to make things so difficult. She nodded her head. Sesshomaru shot her one last glance then exited. No sooner had he left than a blur of orange and black came catapulting into the room and onto Aowin.

"Rin! I missed you!" Rin had not been allowed to see Aowin when she was injured, and she had missed the little girl so much.

"I missed you too Aowin-chan!" Aowin's body was screaming with pain but she ignored it and hugged the girl tighter. "What would you like to do today Aowin?" Rin asked in her adorable little voice.

"Well it's snowing outside, so want to have a snowball fight?" Rin cheered happily.

"Let's invite Sesshomaru to come with us too!" Aowin was bending over the bed to grab some clothes but when she heard Rin she halted in mid air. She went crashing to the floor, but luckily landed on a pile of clothes. "No no no no no! Bad idea!" But Rin was already out the door and down the hall. Aowin sighed. There was no telling her off now. She grabbed some winter clothes and changed into them.

Unfortunately for some reason, Sesshomaru had said yes. And unfortunately for some reason, Aowin's winter clothes somehow were so thick they supported her and she could walk, and therefore had no excuse to not play in the snow. Sesshomaru and Rin stared at her weirdly as she met them at the front door. They were only dressed in thick kimonos and thick shoes, while Aowin wore a thick winter coat, snow pants, boots, and a hat and gloves. "What? I don't wanna freeze!" They gave her strange looks but ignored her strange clothing.

Sesshomaru mostly watched the snowball fight. Aowin and Rin built forts then Aowin taught Rin how to make perfect round snowballs. They built a huge pile of them, then launched them all into the air. The sky was so filled with snow you would think it was naturally white.

Rin was a natural. She hit Aowin with almost every snowball, but the funny thing is that Aowin didn't seem to hit Rin once. Aowin laughed when she ran out of snowballs. "Jeez Rin, you're good at this! You win!" Rin laughed and plopped down in the snow. Aowin spread out her arms and legs and began to make a snow angel. '

"What are you doing Aowin-chan?"

"I'm making a snow angel."

"What's a snow angel?" Aowin sat up and admired her snow angel. It was fairly good.

"A snow angel is when you spread your arms and legs out and make the form of an angel by swishing them through the snow." Aowin replied.

"Like this?" Rin's snow angel was a little off, but still good.

Sesshomaru seemed to get bored watching them play games so he started off for the entrance. "Where are you going?" Aowin called after him. He turned his head but kept walking. "Hey I'm talking here! Hey!" When he still did not stop she pouted. She grabbed a glob of snow and patted it in her hand until she had a snowball. Sesshomaru froze when the snowball hit him square in the back of his head. Ok…maybe not a good idea…Aowin watched wearily to see his reaction. He pulled the snowball from his head and packed it into a better snowball.

"You shouldn't have done that." Aowin turned and ran as fast as she could.

"Run Rin, run for your life!" They took off running but it was quite useless, as he was right behind them.

A dozen snowballs hit Aowin in the back of her head and the back of her legs. All snowballs seemed aimed at her and not Rin though. He probably doesn't want to hurt her. "Inside Rin, run!" Aowin laughed and shoved Rin towards the door. Rin made it inside, but unfortunately Aowin did not. A humongous snowball came pelting towards her. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" The impact from the snowball caused her to fly backwards. She was about to land roughly on her back when she fell into a pair of warm, strong arms. Who else could it be?

"No word of thanks?" Aowin snorted.

"Why should I thank you for catching me, when you threw the huge snowball at me in the first place?" Aowin smirked and picked a huge clump of snow from the ground when he wasn't looking. "Sesshomaru, think fast." She shoved the snow into his face before he could say anything. As soon she he dropped her she took off running.

Aowin had made her and Rin some hot chocolate, and then tucked her into bed. "Goodnight Rin." She kissed her on the forehead then quietly left to her room. She stripped down to a loose black sweatshirt and patched up jeans, and took her hot chocolate and sat on the windowsill. The scene was so beautiful. The whole landscape was covered with a blanket of glittering snow as far as the eye could see. Aowin sighed, she missed her home. It was even more beautiful there. And she also missed her friends, although she didn't want to admit it. They would always have so much fun together. Inuyasha and the gang were her best friends, and she wanted to see them again. Even if she was very angry with them, at least she was comfortable with them.

Once again the door creaked open, and Aowin already knew who it was. Sesshomaru sat by her and stared deep into her eyes. "Why are you sad?"

"Just a little homesick I guess." The Blood of Impurity tightened its hold on her heart and she bit her lip to stop from crying out. "Sesshomaru can I confide in you?" Sesshomaru looked startled but nodded his head. "I'm not really who people think I am. They think I'm this great fearless person who can solve all their problems, but I'm not! It's so frustrating keeping it all bottled up inside! I hate pretending to be something I'm not." She took a wavering breath. "I pretend to be fearless, but I am very afraid of many things. I pretend I can help everyone, but I also destroy! I pretend I am brave, but I have no bravery."

"Aowin, you do not know what you say. You have much bravery. You risk your life for your friends, and you fight to protect people you don't know."

"That is not bravery. Bravery is when you do something your afraid to do, but you do it anyways even though you could lose your life or something important, because you're determined to do that thing. You know I cannot die unless this necklace is shattered. So therefore I can protect my friends and risk my life without fear, fore I can't die easily. If I did not have the necklace, I do not think I could do that. I would probably flee with fear." Sesshomaru looked at Aowin thoughtfully.

"What do you fear?"

"I fear my friends and family being hurt or killed, and me not being able to do anything, to have to stand there and watch them in pain."

Sesshomaru turned her around and embraced her. "I do not think you will have to face that fear. I think you will find bravery, and will not allow your friends to get hurt." Ok, this is officially weird. Sesshomaru is acting really strange….but I think I like it.

"Thank you." Aowin leaned into Sesshomaru chest. He pulled her over to the bed and laid her down. He then pulled the covers over them both and embraced her again. Half of her wanted to stay like this forever with Sesshomaru, but another half of her was screaming to be released. The first half took over her, and she drifted to sleep in Sesshomaru's arms.


	11. Chapter 11 Unnoticed Love

Chapter 11 Unnoticed Love

The annoying sunlight streamed in through the window and awoke Aowin with its warm rays. She groaned and pulled the blankets over her head, but the sun did not want her to sleep. She pushed herself up with her hands, but to her surprise instead of using the bed to prop herself up, her hand hit a warm surface, Sesshomaru's chest. She groaned angrily. How many times was she going to wake up to be on top of him? She had to stop rolling in her sleep. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, she thought dreamily. It seemed as though something had took control of her body because she was cuddling up to Sesshomaru's chest unwillingly. Or was it willingly? She almost fell asleep again because it was so peaceful to just be laying there cuddled up to him.

Sesshomaru's POV

Aowin was so into her dreamlike state that she had not noticed Sesshomaru stare at her. Sesshomaru saw himself start to stroke Aowin's beautiful hair. He tried to stop it but it was like he didn't have control of his body. Why do I do this? I do not love her. It is true she has favorable qualities but love is a strong word for it. Once again his body acted of its own accord and wrapped his arms around Aowin. She had snapped out of her half sleep and stared at Sesshomaru. "Omg I'm so sorry Sesshomaru! I was moving in my sleep, yeah that's it! I often do that!" She burst out. He snapped out of his state too and quickly took his arms away from her. A light shade of pink covered his face and he looked away.

Aowin's POV again

She blushed nervously and saw he did too. She quickly rolled off of him and hopped out of the bed. She had her back to him as she picked out an outfit to wear. She was about to go and change when Sesshomaru stopped her. We're going to visit Lord Suchinzu and Lady Serya today." Aowin nodded. That meant she had to wear a kimono. She picked out an emerald green kimono to match her eyes. It had black stitches on the neck line and the sleeve openings, and also at the bottom of the dress. She did nothing fancy with her hair. She did not trust those thin changing screens, so she went into the closet to dress.

She renewed her bandages before she changed, and was glad to know that her wounds were almost gone. That meant her powers would be back. Then maybe she could use them to stop the curse. She liked Sesshomaru more than before, but she still wasn't going to have his child. She wasn't ready, and it wasn't her idea of a good time. "YES!" She cheered and jumped up and down. "OW!" She clutched her sides. Her wounds were healing, but she still shouldn't jump around like this. Unfortunately, Sesshomaru heard her cry of pain and thought she was being attacked, which resulted of him breaking down the door. He saw Aowin was perfectly fine and in no danger. But she was also undressed.

He gulped. He was so dead. "Aowin…don't be rash…it's not what you think!" His usual emotionless face was filled now with fear.

"You are SO lucky that these bandages cover almost every part of my body. Because if it didn't, your punishment would be much, MUCH worse!" Sesshomaru backed slowly away. She put on a sweet smile and went up to him. "Guess what Sesshomaru? My wounds are healing. And you know what that means?" Oh damn…he thought. Her sweet smile was replaced with a vicious one.

"Take this you pervert!" Blue light emitted from her and Sesshomaru went flying backwards through the wall, and the next wall, and the next, ect. "Wow, I don't know my own strength." She chuckled quietly to herself and quickly changed. She was going to have to deal with Sesshomaru's wrath eventually, so she might as well get it over with.

"Yo, Sesshomaru! Where'd you go dude?" Aowin ran through the broken walls to where she found him lying. "Heh heh…are you ok? I didn't mean to hurt you that much. Ok maybe I did mean to, but that's beside the point." She helped him up then kept her distance. He seemed to still be recovering from the shock of the blow.

"I'm going to get you for this." He said when he finally found his voice. Now it was Aowin's turn to gulp.

"Um yea…I'll be umm…somewhere other than here." She took off running through the halls, but he was on her heels. She quickly side stepped into a room and slammed the door shut before he could get it.

"Aowin you know it's useless! I can break the door down easily." Crap he's right…She looked quickly around the room for something that could help her. He was taking his sweet time with the door. When she saw it start to crack she noticed the window.

"Bombs away!" She dove out the window just as he burst into the room.

"Baka get back here! It's the top of the castle!" Sesshomaru jumped after her. O.o She had been falling for awhile now.

"AHHHHHHH! I'm too young to die!" She landed with a splash in the lake that she had not noticed. When she resurfaced she choked up water. "Thank you God!" She thankfully praised the lord. "Hey Sesshomaru I'm-" She was about to tell him she was ok when she saw him falling from the sky right above her. "AHHHHHH!" She tried to swim away but it was too late. With a thud he landed on top of her and sent them both underwater. She shot up through the surface and scrambled onto the shore. "Idiot! What'd you do that for? You almost drowned me!" She bonked him on the head when he climbed onto the surface.

"If you hadn't been the baka you are and jumped off the 5th story, then maybe I wouldn't have to jump after you and I wouldn't have landed on you."

"No, this all started when you went perverted and spied on me! This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't done that!" He sighed.

"I swear…I wasn't spying on you! I heard your cry of pain."

Aowin didn't have a retort to that and he knew it. He smirked at her. "Wipe that smirk off your face or I will for you." He was unshaken.

"You're not a threat to this Sesshomaru."

"Oh really?" Aowin knew how to get him. She leaned into his shoulder which got her suspicious looks from Sesshomaru. She cuddled up to him and buried her face in his neck. "Sesshomaru…think fast." She shoved him into the water before he knew what was happening. "Hahaha!" She rolled on the ground laughing. She felt something wrap around her ankle and swiftly drag her into the water. "Ack!" She took a deep breath before her head went underwater.

She wrenched the thing from her ankle and tugged it up to her face. "I should've known." She spat out but only bubbles came out. Sesshomaru pulled her up to the surface with him for air. Aowin plopped herself on the ground and squeezed her hair out.

"We have to leave soon. Let's stop this foolishness." Aowin rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She smirked evilly. "One more thing…" She tripped him and knocked him right into the lake. She giggled.

"I thought we agreed to stop?"

"Come on I was just having fun!" She left him to get out and ran to the entrance.


	12. Chapter 12 Trouble at Lord Suchinzu's

Chapter 12 Trouble at Lord Suchinzu's Manor

By the time Aowin and Sesshomaru had dried off and had gotten ready, it was already past the time they should be there. So much to Aowin's displeasure they had to take the fast way, which was Sesshomaru carrying her as they ran. I don't know how Kagome stands this…She thought bitterly. Well, maybe she's used to it.

"Lord Sesshomaru, Lady Aowin! It's good to see you again!" Lord Suchinzu and Serya greeted them at the door.

"Nice to see you too!" Aowin returned Serya's hug and bowed to Lord Suchinzu. When Aowin bowed her bandages moved a little to show her scar.

"It's nice to see your wounds are healing." Serya commented.

"Thank you for noticing. My energy is also returning. Soon I will have enough to heal myself. Actually, I might be able to now." She placed her hand on her heart and shut her eyes. She concentrated on warm, healing energy gliding down her arm and bathing her in its power. She started to glow green and her bandages magically shriveled up and disappeared, and underneath her wounds were gone. Not a trace left of injury.

"Very impressive Aowin. You're quite powerful for your age." Aowin blushed and thanked Lord Suchinzu. A bell sounded from the castle breaking the uncomfortable silence. "It's time for dinner. You came just in time. Come, let us eat." Lord Suchinzu and Serya led the way to the dining room.

"Wow! It's huge! This is so cool!" Aowin looked around amazed. Suchinzu and Serya laughed.

"Like it? It's been in this castle for a long time, and it is still in fine condition." It was impressive for a very old dining room. There was a humongous fireplace with creative designs of animals carved into it. Silk flags that bore the mark of the eastern lands were draped in various places along the wall. There was also a very fancy, and long might I add, dining table that had silk of different colors on the seats and for a table cloth. But what caught her attention most was the crystal clear lake outside the window. (Why does every castle seem to have a lake?) It was absolutely beautiful shimmering in the sunlight.

Lord Suchinzu and Serya sat at the head of the tables and Sesshomaru and Aowin sat beside them. Servants rushed in and pulled their chairs out before they could sit down. "Umm…thanks." Aowin wasn't used to having the royal treatment. Dozens of servants came out with many trays of delectable looking foods. And to think this was only the first course.

Aowin was having a hard time eating her rice. She was American, and was not skilled in chopsticks. She tried many different ways of trying to use the chopsticks, but to no avail. While she struggled the others watched amusedly. She finally came up with a solution. She rolled her napkin up into a roll then stuck it between her chopsticks, and bound it with her hair tie. "Aha!" She held up her chopsticks triumphantly. Now the others were giving her weird looks. Finally knowing they were watching her she blushed. "What? I'm American, I can't use chopsticks." They gave her even stranger looks. She ignored them and ate the rest of meal, which consisted of rice, steak, green beans, and ramen.

Next course. This time she ate potatoes, soup, salad, and fish. She held her stomach. She should've starved herself before she came here. She didn't think she could eat another bite. She changed her mind when she saw the next course though. It was all dessert. Well, maybe I could make room for some more. Sugar buns, fortune cookies, and green tea, yum!

While the servants were taking the food away, Lord Suchinzu, Serya, and Lord Sesshomaru engaged in a boring conversation about lands and other junk. Aowin excused herself to the gardens and wandered the halls to find the door outside. She was humming to herself as she wandered until she crashed into someone. She and whatever she bumped into crashed to the floor. "Ouch…" She rubbed her head and gasped. She had crashed into Samu!

"I'm so sorry…really it was an accident!" He was on the floor bowing.

"Samu!" He looked up when he heard her voice.

"Aowin?" She hugged him and smiled into his hair.

"I didn't think I would see you again! What are you doing here?" Samu got to his feet and helped her up.

"I was traded to Lord Suchinzu by my old master." Aowin frowned. She hated the idea of people being traded like items.

"Are they kind to you?" It wasn't a question. It was a demand.

"Yeah, they're very kind." Aowin sighed in relief.

"They better be, or I would have to knock some heads around." They laughed heartedly.

"Hey Samu wanna come with me to the gardens?"

"I don't have to do any work right now so ok." Aowin marched down one hall while Samu stood there with an anime sweat drop. "Uh…Aowin? The gardens are that way." He pointed to the other hall. Aowin rushed back down the hall with a sweat drop of her own.

"Heh heh…..right I knew that I was just seeing if you knew." (I love that phrase!) Samu laughed and pulled her down the right hallway.

Aowin took a deep breath when she got outside. She loved night. It smelled good, the air felt fresh, and it was just the right temperature. The thing she loved most though was looking up at the glinting stars and moon.

Samu's yells tore her from the sky. She gasped at the sight. Samu was on the ground dead, with one of Naraku's tentacles through his chest. Aowin glared at Naraku with all the hate she possessed. "Naraku! I will avenge Samu, I will make you suffer the pain you made him go through!" Naraku just grinned coldly at her. Blue light emitted from Aowin's hands and a bow and arrows formed out of it. She took aim and let it loose. In a blur of blue fire it shot through the air. Surprisingly though, when it got near Naraku it just stopped and fell to the ground, useless. "What!" Then Aowin saw it. It was faint, but she was sure of what it was. A barrier. The worry that had settled in her stomach went away. "So you've got yourself a barrier Naraku? You know it won't protect you."

Aowin put her hands together like she was praying in front her chest and started muttering words. Her hands shined sky blue and she yelled, "Holy barrier breaker!" She thrust her hands forward and watched as glittering bubbles of light made their way towards Naraku. They covered the barrier making a bubble dome around it, and then disappeared. Aowin stumbled backwards. "W-what? How could this be!" The barrier was still there. Aowin stared at her hands, searching for a weakness. Could my powers be faltering? Or has Naraku gotten stronger? She hoped it was neither.

"I don't know how your barrier was able to avoid my barrier breaking spell, but I'll find another way to kill you!" As she ran towards him she ripped out her sword. Fire licked the sword's blade as she forced her energy into it. She struck out at the barrier and she did flames enveloped it. But still, the barrier did not break. What can I do? I cannot harm him if I cannot get near him. If only Inuyasha was here…but he would never come to my aid now…That thought brought tears to her eyes. She was afraid se would never see her friends again…even though last time they were here they weren't exactly the best friends you could have. No, I will not cry over them! She brushed the tears from her eyes and focused on Naraku.

"Huh? Where the heck did he go?" While she had been crying Naraku had gone somewhere, for he was nowhere to be seen. That bastard, he ran away! She scanned the whole gardens but could not see him. But wait! There was part of the trees that had been knocked aside. "Yes! That way!" She started to run but abruptantly stopped. She glanced at Samu's body. She wanted to help him, but she could not let Naraku get away. She would kill him, and then help Samu. I will avenge you Samu…With that she rushed down the path Naraku had carelessly made.

She looked this way and that as she chased the path. Why did he run? He was winning the battle. Unless…. She gasped. "It's a trap!" She heard merciless laughter behind her.

"I thought you were smarter than that, to fall into my trap so easily." She panicked and spun around to search the trees with her eyes.

"Naraku! Where are you! Come out and fight! Oh, that's right, you're too cowardly to fight!" More laughter.

"Your only weapon is your tongue. No, I shall do things my way." She heard movement behind her but spun around too slow. Roots entangled her arms and legs and curled up until she was in a fully body cast of roots.

Aowin squirmed and twisted but to no avail. She wouldn't be panicking so much if it weren't for the fact that the roots were also squeezing her necklace. He is trying to squeeze the life out of me, she realized. The roots tightened with each passing second. "How should I kill you? I want you to feel pain, so I won't suffocate you." The roots loosened. She choked and gasped for air. "I'll just kill you slowly." True to his word, thorns slowly sprouted out of the roots and stabbed deep into her body. They dug deeper and deeper until she could hold it in no longer.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed with everything she had, hoping Sesshomaru would hear her. Her hands were bound down, so she could not use her powers, and the thorn was getting closer and closer to her necklace. To add pain, and more blood loss, the Blood of Impurity tightened around her heart, making her scream louder.

"Scream, but no one will hear you." He smirked as the pain was evident in her eyes. Please Sesshomaru….help me!

Hahahaha! Cliff hanger! I'm so evil, lol. I'll try to get the next one out as soon as possible! But while you wait you can stomp around angry at me for the cliff hanger.


	13. Chapter 13 The Things You Do For Friends

Chapter 13 The Things You Do For Friends

For the first time in a long time, Aowin was truly afraid. For a long time, she had shut her fear away, it was a weakness. She had set her devotion to protecting her friends, she had been selfless. But now, in all the pain she was in, and all the doubt, she let those feelings flow free. She was scared. For her own life, for her friends that she would never be able to apologize to, and for Sesshomaru, the one who she had been trying to shut out. She tried to shut him out; she had tried to ignore her feelings. But her feelings could wait no longer. Tears streamed down her face. She would never see him again. Naraku laughed cruelly when he saw her tears. She was finally weakening.

"For a long time I have had to flee from you, but not now. I have you at my mercy, which I have none of." He paused to smile evilly at her weakness. "I tried controlling you before, to do my bidding. I gave you a choice of life, but you broke free of control. You chose death, and now you will get it. It's time for you to finally die wench!"

Aowin's heart flooded over with fear. She felt the roots tighten, getting ready for the death squeeze. But instead, he threw her. He hurled her towards a large tree, which would surely break her and leave her there helpless until someone shattered her necklace. As she flew through the air, her life flashed before her eyes.

She saw her loving parents and sister, at Christmas. She saw her friends and her from the future making a mess with ice cream. Tears welled up in her eyes. Next an image of Inuyasha and the gang floated through her mind. It was at her birthday party, it seemed so long ago. The next image surprised her, Sesshomaru and hers kiss. He stole her first kiss, but she didn't care anymore. "Sesshomaru, I wish I could've seen you one last time…" She whispered to herself.

She clamped her eyes shut, waiting for the blow of the tree. But it never came. Instead to her surprise she was gently greeted by a pair of warm arms. "I will not let you die while I still breathe Aowin." She heard him whisper in her ear.

"S…S…Sesshomaru?" She said weakly. Her heart filled with joy when she heard his voice.

He put her gently down propped up against the tree. "Do not worry anymore, you're safe."

"B…but Samu isn't…" Sesshomaru nodded his head.

"I saw his body." They heard Naraku's sneer behind them.

"How touching, Sesshomaru you have fallen for a weak human." Sesshomaru unsheathed tokijin and faced Naraku.

"Naraku you will die tonight. Or will you flee in fear?" Naraku frowned. He did not like being reminded of how he always fled before Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru, you and Aowin will perish. Now die and go to hell!" Roots burrowed into the ground and popped up behind Sesshomaru. He sliced them before they could do any damage. More roots attacked, and more, but Sesshomaru took care of it. Naraku, is this all you have…She thought. This is too easy, Sesshomaru will beat him. There has to be a catch…That's when Aowin noticed what Naraku was doing. Biding his time, distracting.

She gasped. Naraku didn't care about Sesshomaru right now. She was weak, defenseless. His goal was her! He was going to quickly get Sesshomaru out of the way to get to her. "S…Sesshomaru! Watch out! I…I…it's a distraction!" Her words came out stretched and no louder than a choked whisper. He would never hear her like this, she had to do something. She saw the sharp tentacle burrowed in the dirt, hiding behind Sesshomaru, waiting for the time to strike.

She used the tree for support and took a shaking step. She didn't have time to do this slowly! She launched herself forward, in front of Sesshomaru shielding him. Just then the tentacle shot out and shot right through Aowin's stomach. It held her there in the air for a moment, and then slowly and painfully pulled out.

She fell to her knees and clasped her hands over her wound to stop the bleeding. This was it, she couldn't take the pain. The crystal Inuyasha gave her stopped her merciless self from taking over, but not the powerful one. She let it take over her and her eyes glazed over blue and blank. She slowly lifted herself up and faced Naraku. He was scared now, he slowly backed away. "Hiu Hiu Eictaria!" She chanted the words with no emotion.

She began to glow with a bright midnight blue light, and it grew larger and larger each second. "Haoshi!" She screamed. The blue light came out in small beams of light and went through Naraku's body. He made a choking sound, and started to retreat.

"Come back coward! Dragon Destruction Wave!" His blue lights mingled with Aowin's, causing a huge destructive blast. Naraku had blood pouring down his whole body. He somehow escaped with his life, but just barely. They watched him flee towards the forest. Aowin's eyes changed back to emerald green and she went limp and crumpled to the ground.

"Aowin!" Sesshomaru hurried over to Aowin and gathered her up in his arms. He checked her wounds. They were deep. She took a shuddering breath.

"Sesshomaru…I'm so glad…you came…I knew you would…" Sesshomaru held her tight to his chest.

"Aowin, you need to heal yourself. Your wounds are severe!" Aowin held her hand to her heart then changed her mind.

"Wait…Samu needs it first…I might not have enough energy for him…" She struggled to get out of his arms but he stood up and held her bridal style.

"I'll take you."

When they got to Samu's body Suchinzu and Serya were waiting anxiously for them. "Aowin! Oh my!" They both looked very worried. Serya went over to embrace her, but Sesshomaru stopped her.

"She is too badly injured." They then saw how much blood was coming out. Serya gasped and Suchinzu embraced her. Aowin stumbled out of Sesshomaru's arms and knelt by Samu. She was so weak she had to literally drag her hand and place it on his chest. She closed her eyes and focused on healing energy beckoning his soul back. When nothing happened Aowin was worried. Is it his soul does not want to come back? Tears filled her eyes. She would never forgive herself if she couldn't bring him back.

There was one other way…If a soul did not want to come back, or could not, she could give part of your soul to them…It was risky but she would do it for Samu. She leaned over him until her lips were centimeters from Samu. She could hear Sesshomaru shift uneasily. She ignored him and focused on what she was doing.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. They both glowed a forest green light, and a shimmering ball of light, part of her soul, left her mouth and entered his. She suddenly felt emptier…Samu's chest started heaving up and down, and she could feel his breath. He sat up straight and his eyes shot open. "A…Aowin! He…he attacked me, and killed me! Why am I alive?" Aowin smiled faintly.

"He did kill you, and I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't bring you back." Samu smiled back but stopped immediately when he saw her wounds.

"But your wounds! Why did you not heal yourself first?"

"Yes, why did you heal a slave rather than heal yourself first?" Lord Suchinzu spoke up. Aowin smiled a small smile.

"Rank has nothing to do with it. I could not live without my friends. They keep me alive; they keep me who I am. They stick with me through thick and thin, they dedicate themselves to making sure I'm ok. How could anyone repay suck loyalty? Giving a part of my soul to bring them back is but a small repayment of my debt." She paused to take a breath. "I feel emptier now, but I knew that would happen, and I accepted it. Because that's what you do for friends, you make sacrifices for them."

Gosh sorry it took so long! My internet hasn't been working so I couldn't post it.


	14. Chapter 14 Acceptance

Chapter 14 Acceptance

All the servants stared as Sesshomaru carried a weak Aowin through the halls towards their room. Aowin had healed herself before she left Lord Suchinzu's and Lady Serya's manor. It took a lot of energy to heal wounds as deep as hers, but it took even more to bring back the dead, especially the way she did it. So she was exceptionally weak. Aowin heard a squealing noise behind them, and they both looked back. Jaken was scrambling towards them, tripping many times. (Yay for Jaken!) "Lord Sesshomaru! I have completed the task…" His voice trailed off as he saw Aowin in Sesshomaru's arms. "What is that wretched human doing here?" Sesshomaru was about to scold him and throw something at him but Aowin answered first.

"Jaken, I'm here as a guest. Sorry to surprise you. I would have informed you that this wretched human was staying here if you were here to tell." Jaken tried to say something but opened his mouth and closed it. Sesshomaru smirked at the stuttering toad.

"Jaken get Rin to bed and then do your own affairs. I will be in my room."

"Um…yes my lord." He bowed and went to do his task, but Aowin could just barely hear him grumbling about human children. Sesshomaru hoisted Aowin up a bit for she was slipping, and then continued to their room.

"You are the only one I know who can show kindness to that toad." He said, smirking in her ear. Aowin laughed.

"Well I feel so sorry for him, looking so ugly!" She laughed again, and to her surprise Sesshomaru laughed with her. It was the first time she heard him laugh.

He gently laid her down on their bed then lay down beside her so they were face to face. "I need to tell you something important. Sesshomaru, all this time I've been hiding my feelings for you. I've been shutting you out, trying to ignore those feelings. I wanted to hate you; I wanted to leave, to have freedom." "I was afraid of what my friends would think, I was afraid of what you would think, I was afraid of you. I was afraid you wouldn't accept me because of what I am, and the consequences of being with me." She sighed. "But when I was on the brink of death, I thought of you. I cried for you. I wanted to see you again, tell you how I feel. Until then, I wore a mask. But now…I can't hide it any longer!"

She took his face in her hands. "Sesshomaru…" She leaned in and kissed him gently, but full of love. Sesshomaru's eyes widened. She was kissing him of her own free will, not because she was sad or he started it. She pulled away and breathed out the 3 words she had been holding in for a long time. "I love you." Then when she saw his surprised expression she frowned. "But do you love me?" In answer he pulled her in for another kiss.

"I do love you." Her heart flooded with happiness, and the fear and pain of the Blood of the Impurity and her aches were gone. She buried her head in his chest and hugged him so hard he couldn't breathe. He did not heed it though, for he was feeling similar happiness. All this time, we were both holding in our emotions. We were both afraid of love…now I know for sure, that I love her.

Aowin was so happy, but her mind was troubled. She loved him, but she would have to do something she dreaded. To save his life, and hers. She took in a deep breath, and let her words out carefully. "Sesshomaru, you remember the riddle, and Sango's opinion? Well, I don't really want to, but time is pressing. "And you will be given a gift from above." I don't think I'm ready, and it's not my idea of a good time…but I love you, and have to complete the riddle…" (Don't worry there's no hentai! I hate hentai!)

Sesshomaru stared at her. She was making a huge sacrifice for him. By letting herself be marked was saving hers and his life. "Aowin…" She smiled weakly at him.

"It's time Sesshomaru, I love you. I accept you."

"First I'll mark you. It might hurt a bit." He lowered his mouth to her neck and as gently as he could clamped his jaws down on her smooth skin. She winced as she felt her gentle skin pierced. He cleaned away the blood, and then it began.

So far, "To cleanse yourself of Blood Impure, you must have the power to endure. When love is hate and hate is love, you will be given a gift from above." was complete.

Yay! I finally remembered Jaken:D Whoopee for me! Well I'm sorry it was such a short chapter! I'll try to make the next one longer! I didn't like this chapter too much. I wrote it too mushy . 


	15. Chapter 15 A Gift From Above

Chapter 15 A Gift From Above

A few months later, Aowin had her first child. She gazed down at her daughter with all the love she possessed. This was one of the happiest moments of her life. "Our beautiful daughter…..Mizu!" She gently handed her to her mate, Sesshomaru. He too stared down at his daughter with love and care. Whenever he had that look in his eyes it was rare. She smiled up at him. Sesshomaru nodded his head in agreement to the name. She was so happy that she was crying like mad. Serya too was crying, and hugged Aowin. Suchinzu placed his hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder and smiled at Mizu. Aowin and Sesshomaru had agreed that Serya and Suchinzu would be Mizu's guardians.

Much to Sesshomaru's dismay, Mizu had turned out a half demon. But he loved her just the same, which surprised Aowin. If he could love his daughter, a hanyou, then how could he not love his brother who is also a hanyou? She would ask him later. Right now she just wanted to relish this moment. She embraced Sesshomaru and cried into his chest. She could tell this was the happiest moment of his life too, for he had a happy light in his eyes. He held the baby between them so they could both hold her. Mizu had cute red dog ears and matching red hair. But she had Sesshomaru's eyes. She also had a crescent moon on her forehead, just like Aowin and Sesshomaru.

Aowin kissed Mizu on the forehead and held her close. "She has your eyes." She said softly.

"Yes, but she your hair." Nothing could ruin this moment…She thought happily. But something just did. She looked up at Sesshomaru worriedly.

"Do you think she could have got Blood of Impurity, since I have it?" She searched her baby with her eyes for signs.

"I do not think it can be passed down." Aowin breathed a sigh of relief. She would have never forgiven herself if she found out she had given that horrible thing to her child. Aowin put on a fake smile, but she was really kind of sad inside. It had been months and she had not seen her friends. They couldn't stay angry for this long could they? She knew Inuyasha would be able to smell that Mizu was born, and she was sure at least Kagome or Miroku would have enough sense to come to see. Apparently not. Sesshomaru smelled the sadness on her and knew what was wrong. He gave her a comforting squeeze. She smiled up at him. She leaned into his chest as they both savored the moment with their child.

"Sesshomaru, I want to show my family Mizu, and you." Sesshomaru nodded.

"How far are they?"

"Not far…and Sesshomaru? I'll explain things to you when we get there." He gave her a questioning look and she looked around nervously. She had not told him she was from the future America yet. He picked her and Mizu up in his arms and pounced away, but gently, to the place Aowin directed him. He set them down when they got to the mining shaft.

"You live here?" He looked at it in disapproval. She laughed.

"No, just follow me. Now you need to hold onto my hand to get through." She grabbed his hand and held Mizu to her chest.

She jumped into the mine shaft dragging Sesshomaru with her. His eyes widened as blue light engulfed them. When their feet hit the ground, Sesshomaru looked around. "What did that do? We're still in the same place." She smirked. She couldn't wait to see his reaction.

"You'll see." When he placed her in his arms and hopped out of the shaft, his eyes got bigger, if that's possible. It was such a different environment that it surprised him so much he almost fell over. "Oh ya, I've been meaning to tell you. I live in future America." But Sesshomaru wasn't paying any attention. He was too busy staring at the "strange" clothes the people walking by were wearing, and at the cars and everything else.

"Oh Aowin!" She looked up to see her mother, father, and sister running towards her.

"I missed you guys so much!" She was crying in happiness again. She ran and embraced her family, being careful not to hurt Mizu.

"We were so worried! We didn't know where you were! We thought something happened to you!" They continued to squeeze and hug her until Mizu cried. They all stopped and stared at Mizu.

"Who's this? She's so cute! And who's that dude?" Her younger sister questioned. Aowin rocked Mizu and spoke softly to her until she calmed down.

"I'll explain everything to you. Come." She grabbed the still dazed Sesshomaru and dragged him inside to the table.

After she had explained everything they wanted to know, they were a lot more relaxed. "So Sesshomaru is your mate, and this is your daughter Mizu?" She pointed to Sesshomaru then Mizu. Aowin nodded. "Aowin, we need to have a talk with Sesshomaru." Her father pulled Sesshomaru into another room and Aowin sighed. Her father was going to go have "the talk" with Sesshomaru to see if he was right for Aowin. Great.

"Aowin, come here please." She groaned as her mother dragged her into another room. Great, now she's going to lecture me about being a mother. That left Aowin's sister in the room with Mizu. She cooed at her and rubbed her cute little dog ears until everyone came back into the room. Aowin's dad looking satisfied, Aowin looking highly embarrassed, Sesshomaru looking uncomfortable, and Aowin's mom looking pleased.

"Aowin, you run off with Sesshomaru and take him to the stores or something, while we spend some quality time with our granddaughter." Her mother shooed her away.

"But he can't go out looking like this!"

"Buy him some clothes then." With that she slammed the door in their faces.

"Great, I've been locked out of my own house, by my own mother!" She shouted the last part through the door. "Well c'mon. Time to buy you some clothes so you fit in. And besides, you can have a tour of part of future America."

If any of you are adults and have children, then tell me if I described the feelings well enough, because I wouldn't know. Well, It's kinda corny but I hope you like it anyways!


	16. Chapter 16 Fun at the Mall and Bad News

Chapter 16 Fun at the Mall and Bad News

They had to walk to the mall because Aowin didn't have her driver's license and was too young to drive anyways. Sesshomaru had gazed in awe at everything they passed. He had also been a lot more talkative than she had ever heard him be, he'd been asking questions on everything he saw. "What is this box like thing?" He poked the thing cautiously.

"It's called a mailbox. You can send packages and letters to people around the world with it."

"Hmm…it can do a lot for a small metal box…no wonder it has many different scents on it." He soon got bored with the mailbox and they began moving again.

5 seconds later... "Sesshomaru, what do you think you're doing!?" Sesshomaru had pounced in front of a truck and was growling threateningly at it. He was starting to pull his sword out of its sheath. (Like Inuyasha in the 3rd movie) He turned his head surprisingly towards her.

"But it was going to attack this Sesshomaru." She tugged Sesshomaru off the road and muttered an apology to the truck driver.

"Things aren't like what they are in the feudal era. It's safer. That was a car; people use those to drive around in. It won't hurt you unless you let yourself get run over." He nodded, but cast a last warning glance at the truck.

Finally after what seemed hours they got to the mall. They had had a few more inconveniences along the way, but they had gotten it worked out. "Why'd you drag me away, I had that beeping creature cornered!" Aowin sighed.

"That was a videogame, you play it. It doesn't attack you!" She sighed. "I swear…maybe this wasn't such a good idea…Anyways, we're here. Let's go to the clothes section first…People are staring." It was true; almost everyone's eyes were on them. She tugged his hand and made her way through the mall. "Now Sesshomaru I need you to be a good boy. No attacking anything, ok?" She sighed again. _I feel like I'm scolding a dog… _

"We're here, Tim's Clothier." She searched around for clothes to match him while he stood there glancing around. "Aha! These are perfect!" She held out a white shirt and baggy jeans. Sesshomaru stared blankly at the clothes she held out.

"…..Don't you think those are too big for you?" Aowin crashed to the ground in an anime fall.

"These are yours!" He eyed them distastefully.

"What type of clothes are those? I will not wear them." _This is going to be harder than I thought…_

"These are the clothes everyone in this time wears, and you have to wear them to fit in. Please!" He sighed irritated, but saw the look on her face and took them into the changing room, the wrong changing room. 5 girls came running out screaming, while the others were swatting Sesshomaru with their bags. Aowin took hold of him before he could hurt them. "This way." She shoved him into the boy's changing room then fell onto the ground laughing.

When he came out she immediately stopped laughing and stared. "You look really good in those. I'll buy them for you." Aowin took out her wallet and fished out the right amount, then handed it to the cashier and left to find another store while Sesshomaru followed behind her.

"Ah! The arcade! Let's go in!" She dragged an unwilling Sesshomaru into the room full of "beeping creatures". Aowin ran through the rows of games searching for an interesting one. "Ooh ooh! This one! C'mon Sesshomaru!" Sesshomaru had put on his blank expression again and was acting as his normal self. _Probably to show the "creatures" he's not weak…_she chuckled to herself. She slid a coin into the slot of Space Exterminators, and began beeping random buttons while waiting for the game to start.

Sesshomaru's POV

He watched as his mate concentrated on the "beeping creature" (I love saying that lol) and began hitting random colorful buttons. He hissed and clamped his hands over his sensitive ears when loud shooting noises came from the game. How could she stand to play this? He thought. He gazed at her face again. _She's so beautiful when she concentrates…_He had never really thought that he could love a human, but he did. And it happened in the strangest way, too.

Normal POV

Aowin cheered and jumped up and down when she beat the game. She had made the top score! "Oh yea!" She did a strange little happy dance. "Hmm?" She felt Sesshomaru wrap his arms around her and embrace her from behind. She leaned back into him and snuggled up against him. She sensed that he was in great sadness. "Sesshomaru, what's wrong?"

"I'm worried for Mizu. Naraku might try to hurt her, and use her against us. I cannot risk him hurting you or Mizu." Aowin turned around and hugged him tight.

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to Mizu, and I'm sure you won't either. I would die before Naraku laid a finger on her."

"That's not the only thing; I'm worried about Blood of Impurity. I looked it up, and it says after it kills its first victim, it moves onto the next victim. The next one in bloodline, and that's Mizu. Aowin, we've wasted too much time, we should've tried to complete more of the riddle. Time's running out."

I don't really like writing romance stories that much anymore. Well, I never did, but it seems worse now. So I might stop writing this story. Don't worry; I intend to finish it before I take it off. I also have another reason. I am writing a book that has almost everything non Inuyasha related in here, and if I do publish it, I don't want you guys confusing it with this. So I'll keep this up until I'm sure that my book can be published. Oh, I almost forgot. I haven't been putting disclaimers on these, so I'll start from now on. :D


	17. Chapter 17 Kidnapped

Chapter 17 Kidnapped

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Oh yeah, from now on, when people are thinking things they will be in Italics.

It was a couple weeks after they returned to the feudal era that Mizu could crawl and mutter a few words. Her first word (to Sesshomaru's great disappointment) was Inuyasha. How she learned that Aowin never knew, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with Sesshomaru muttering Inuyasha's name in his sleep. Mizu slept between them, and stayed up longer than them, so she probably heard Sesshomaru muttering, "Damn you Inuyasha!" in his sleep every night.

One day, they were out in the cherry blossom fields playing with Mizu (it was her favorite spot). "Go to daddy!" Aowin cooed as she gently set Mizu on her hands and knees so she could crawl to Sesshomaru. Mizu's adorable little dog ears perked up as she happily made her way towards her father. "Daddy daddy daddy!" She giggled enthusiastically and Aowin laughed. Mizu plopped down in Sesshomaru's arm and started chanting strange made up words and some real words. It was a hobby of hers they discovered for her to chant all the words she learned. "Inuyasha daddy mommy dage foo foo Inuyasha Rien Jake Jake."

Dage was her word for flowers, foo foo her word for Sesshomaru's fluffy thing draped over his shoulder, Rien was what she called Rin, because she couldn't say it right yet (Aowin didn't get how she couldn't seeing that Rin was one of the easiest things to say, but she was a baby after all), and you can probably guess what Jake Jake is. Yep, it's Jaken. He hated to be called this, but refrained from showing it for fear of Sesshomaru.

"Foo foo!" She exclaimed in an adorable voice as she eyed Sesshomaru's fluffy swaying in the wind. She cautiously approached it, then pounced on it viciously and sunk her little teeth into it.

"Awww! She is soooo adorable!" Aowin exclaimed snatching up Mizu with the fluffy still in her mouth and hugging her tightly. She saw a smile tug on the corners of Sesshomaru's mouth. Mizu soon forgot the fluffy and spread her arms wide. "Mommy!" She pranced around with Mizu in her arms.

A sharp scent filled the air, and Sesshomaru's head shot up. Even as young as she was, Mizu's little ears perked up too. She started crying and buried her head in Aowin's shoulder. "Shhh…It will be alright." She softly soothed the whimpering child. She placed her hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder. "Sesshomaru, what is it?" She was soon answered though as fierce growling filled the air.

"Aowin, look out!" Sesshomaru dove in front of Aowin and embraced her just as a claw came swiping down. His bloody body flew through the air and tumbled a few feet.

"Sesshomaru!" She sprinted towards him but was blocked as a pack of wolves surrounded her. "I don't have time for this! Vashkara!" Her eyes shone blue and powerful blue light emitted from her body and swept over the wolves, killing them all.

She continued her run to Sesshomaru, when a hand from behind gripped the back of her shirt and tugged her backwards. "You're not going anywhere, you're coming with me. Before she could retort or do anything, she was struck painfully on the head and fell limply onto someone's back. (The way Inuyasha carries Kagome around) Before she blacked out completely she saw Sesshomaru chasing after her and calling her and Mizu's names, but the person outran him. She clutched Mizu tighter to her before she couldn't fight unconsciousness anymore.

Lol, Aowin has a very childish behavior. Well I hope you liked this chapter!


	18. Chapter 18 Koga the Wolf Demon

Chapter 18 Koga the Wolf Demon

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

"Ugh…." Aowin blinked a couple of times to try and make things clearer. That blow to the head had made her vision dizzy. She grunted as a fresh wave of pain passed through her head. When her vision finally cleared she examined her surroundings. She was laying on a bed of hay in a little cove, and her hands and feet were bound with shackles. _Keh, the fools. I can easily burst through these._ She was shocked at her own words. _Gosh, Sesshomaru really rubbed off on me. I'm starting to be as ignorant as him._

She shook her head and swiftly turned around to see two wolf demons holding Mizu far from their bodies, as if examining her. _Mizu! I forgot that she got captured too!_ She silently scolded herself. Oh, where was Sesshomaru?

"Hey Ginta, who do you think the dad is?" The first one questioned.

"I don't know Hakaku (sp?). Well, she has the girl's hair color and face, but she has Inuyasha's eyes. If you bleach the hair and ears white and turn her into a boy then Inuyasha would be the dad." The second one, Ginta, answered.

"But the scent is different. It can't be Inuyasha, it smells more like his brother, that Sesshomaru guy." Hakaku answered.

Ginta shivered. "Just remembering that guy sends shivers down my spine."

Aowin's anger reached the boiling point when they started messing around with Mizu and turning her upside down. "Get your hands off of her!" She dove towards Mizu but was stopped by a firm voice.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A young man stepped out of the shadows. He looked about Inuyasha's age, maybe a little older, with long black hair pulled into a ponytail and crystal blue eyes.

"Who are you and what do you want with me! You better give me back Mizu right now or I will personally kill you!" _Ack, there I go again, I sound like Sesshomaru!_ She silently cursed and reminded herself to accuse Sesshomaru when she got back.

"No, not yet."

"Fine, it's your funeral! Vash-"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Before the rest of the spell could even come out of her mouth a sword flashed from his belt and rested at Mizu's throat. Aowin stopped in mid spell. "You make one move and she dies."

There was something in his voice….like hesitance. _Hmm…I've never met him before, yet he seems familiar. Long black hair, blue eyes, furry headband and clothes, wolf tail…._ "Great…another half demon like that mutt face." Aowin gasped as realization hit her. Memories floated by of Kagome telling her of a wolf demon that loved her and tried to win her heart. Kagome told her that Koga liked to call Inuyasha dog breath and mutt face.

"You're Koga the Wolf Demon aren't you?"

"Hmm?" Koga turned to face her questioningly. "So you know me?"

"Yes, and I know you won't kill Mizu." Koga frowned and took a threatening step towards her.

"You're saying I don't have the guts?" Aowin smiled.

"No, because I don't think Kagome would like it very much if you killed her friend's daughter."

Koga immediately dropped the sword from Mizu's neck. "Oh…so you're Kagome's friend? She's going to hate me for kidnapping you…I'm sorry, I had no idea you were Kagome's friend." Aowin smiled.

"I accept your apology. It's really ok." Koga smiled.

"Ok, let me get you out of those shackles."

"That's ok, I can get them." She concentrated on her shackles and her eyes lit up bright blue as little balls of energy traveled down her arms and formed around the shackles on her legs and arms. With a loud "Boom!" the shackles burst to tiny pieces. Koga started amazed.

"H-how did you do that?" She happily rubbed her now unbound wrists and ankles.

"Simple for me, I'm the Midnight Priestess."

She retrieved Mizu from Koga's arms and hugged her, relieved that she was ok. Koga was now gaping at her. "When I saw you take out my wolves I knew you were powerful, but I had no idea you were actually the Midnight Priestess!" She bowed her head.

"Oh ya, sorry about that. If I knew they were yours I wouldn't have killed them. Sorry." Koga gave a little wave of his hand.

"Don't be. If I was in your position I would have defended myself too."

"So what did you need to kidnap me for?"

"Well, we heard there was a powerful priestess in the area, so we thought it would be a good idea to get her on our team to help us defeat Naraku."

"Well that was pointless seeing as I already am." Koga blushed a deep red.

"Well seeing that you were with Sesshomaru we weren't so sure." She laughed.

"He does seem like the evil type, doesn't he? But no, he's against Naraku as well. He really isn't evil at all, just, no offense to him, an overly pride filled ignorant dog demon that shuts all his emotions away so he's like a living statue." Koga laughed hysterically at this.

After he finished wiping the tears from his eyes, he gave her a suggestion. "How about you stay here until he comes to get you, because I can smell him already on the move."

"Sure, I would like that! And I also need to stay here to explain things to him so he doesn't rip you all to shreds."

"Yea, that would be a really good idea."

I hope I didn't make Koga too OOC. Well I hope you enjoyed it!


	19. Chapter 19 Feudal Soccer

Chapter 19 Feudal Soccer

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

"Hey, can I have my daughter back now?" The two wolf demons laughed nervously and handed her Mizu. Mizu had stopped crying but she still seemed really scared. "Shhh Mizu….It's ok…" She hugged Mizu and whispered soothingly in her ear. The baby soon calmed down and went to sleep. She held her protectively to her chest.

"Aowin, I would like you to meet my two partners, Ginta and Hakaku."

"Nice to meet you." Aowin smiled at them.

"Heh heh, it's good to meet you too."

"So, I'll give you a tour." Koga led her out into the main part of the cave, where many wolf demons sat eating, talking, or arguing. All of them stopped what they were doing and stared at them as they came in. Some were looking at her like they wanted to eat her, others stared because they thought she was pretty, and others looked just out of curiosity. "Ginta, Hakaku. Explain everything to them."

"Yes Koga!" They both said. As all attention focused on Ginta and Hakaku, Koga led her to multiple rooms explaining what they were for. By the time they were finished Aowin had become extremely bored. (She loses interest in things quickly) Ginta and Hakaku had also finished explaining to the wolf demons and they were all staring at her in wonder.

She suddenly had a random idea. "Hey, Koga? Wanna play soccer?" Silence filled the cave. After a few minutes a random wolf demon piped up, "What's soccer?" Aowin nearly fell over. _That's right, this is the feudal era. They don't know what soccer is._ She sighed at her own stupidity.

"Ok, I'll explain." Almost the entire wolf pack was huddled around her like little kids listening to a story. She explained all the positions, the purpose of the game, how to play, and they were all interested by then. "So do you guys want to play it?"

The cave echoed with the thousands of 'yeses' being yelled at her. She laughed. "Okay, this is what we'll need." She pointed to a group of wolf demons. "You four go get two big nets please." As they were running off she pointed to three other wolf demons. "You three please get…." She counted on her fingers. "...twelve big, thick sticks."

"I'm going to need paint, of any kind please." Ginta and Hakaku went off to search and came back a few moments later.

"Will this do?" It was white war paint.

"It's perfect! Thanks! Here, Koga hold her." She handed Mizu to Koga and went to find an open enough space to draw the soccer court. He stood there dumbly holding the baby.

"Umm….hello?" He tried to start a conversation with the infant. Since he got no reply but giggles, he decided to talk to himself.

Aowin wiped her hands off and stood proudly over her work. The field wasn't drawn perfectly, but it was pretty good. She had memorized the way it was drawn because she had played soccer for eight years and it had been imprinted in her memory.

Just as she finished, everyone came back with the supplies. "Ok, time to get to work. Ginta and Hakaku, if you don't mind, could you please watch Mizu while I work, and throughout the game?"

"Sure!" They happily took up the offer. They took Mizu from the relieved looking Koga. Aowin giggled at the look on his face.

"Thanks! Koga, could you please help me?" Aowin held up the thick sticks. "Can you connect these please?"

"Sure." He grabbed the two sticks and thrust them together, one breaking through the other so that they stuck together perfectly. _I didn't mean for him to do it that way…._

"That wasn't how I expected you to do it, but if it works…." They continued to do this until the wood was in the shape of a goal. Next they strung then net through it. It was a good feudal soccer goal if she did say so herself. She looked over to the wolf demons who were managing the other goal. They didn't have as much progress. She hurriedly rushed over to them. "How about we handle this and you divide everyone into equal teams?" They nodded gratefully and left the pathetic pile of wood and net. Koga did the same thing they did to the other goal.

"Aowin! We're finished dividing the teams!" A wolf demon called out to her.

"Awesome! Thanks!" Amazingly it divided equally. Each team had ten players, with about three extra per team, with two coaches for each team. After she had specifically taught them what to call when what happened, they started the game. Luckily she didn't have to make a soccer ball because she brought hers to the feudal era. (She just luckily happened to have her back pack with her…..O.o) She and Koga were on a team, so they would probably win seeing that Koga was the fastest and Aowin was the most experienced with soccer.

They all lined up in their positions. Koga was midfielder (or halfbacks whatever you wanna call it) because he could move the fastest and he needed to be all over the field. Aowin was also a midfielder with Koga. (Her coaches always put her on midfield for some reason, and apparently the wolf demon coaches did too, which ticked her off. She preferred defense or offense, something that required less ground to cover)

'Ready…..Set…..Go!" The coach blew the whistle she also seemed to conveniently have. The offense on her team passed it back and forth to each other and worked their way towards the goal, while the midfield followed them keeping a close eye on the ball. Before she knew what was happening the ball went flying back behind them and towards the goal. A person on the other team was back by the defense and bumped it with his head. It went soaring towards the goal but Koga got there first and kicked it with all his strength towards Aowin.

She prepared to stop it with her chest or stomach but she saw the speed it was going at and dunked instead. "Eep!" She dived just in time for it to fly out of bounds.

"Out of bounds!" One of the coaches called.

"What was that for? You could've hit it!" Koga shouted to her.

"If it wasn't going 50 miles a minute I might've! Don't kick with your demon speed!" He opened his mouth to retort but instead focused his attention on the person throwing in the ball. They threw it in to one of their teammates but Aowin blocked it and dribbled the ball up field. She had told the coaches to yell advice to their team like her coaches did, (except she told them to not yell as loud as them), so now she could hear yelling from both teams coaches. She caught various sentences like "Dribble it down!", "Pass!", "Stop her!", and other things. When she got too close to someone she passed it to one of her teammates. They were right in front of the goal so they shot the ball in as soon as it reached their feet.

"Yay! Good job!" She high fived the person who had scored and any of her other teammates she passed. The game continued on like this for another hour until they were too tired to play. The score was seven to four, her team being the winning one. She lined them up and the teams passed each other while hitting their hands saying "Good game."

As the wolf demons parted and went back to what they were doing, she was pleased to hear them commenting about it_. I'm glad they liked it; it's my all time favorite sport…_She thought happily. "Hey, that was fun. Thanks for showing us how to play." She smiled at Koga.

"Anytime. I'm glad you liked it." Koga smiled back then he perked up and sniffed the air.

"What is it Koga?"

"I smell dog boy's brother. He's been here the whole time seeing as how strong his scent is. I guess I didn't notice it because I was so infatuated with the game."

"Sesshomaru's here? Where?"

"Here." Out of the shadows of the trees Sesshomaru walked out, as emotionless as ever.

"Sesshomaru!" She ran over to him.

"Ok, please don't shred them into tiny bits. They didn't mean to kidnap me, well they did, but they didn't mean to hurt me. It was a mistake you see….." She continued to blab about what really happened and when she finally finished Sesshomaru had no change on his face. "Sesshomaru…"

"I know. I've been here ever since you woke up, so I heard the conversation you had." Aowin nearly fell over.

"What! You knew and you made me tell you it all over again!"

"I didn't make you, you chose to."

"Well then why didn't you stop me?"

"I thought it rude to interrupt." She snorted in disbelief at this.

"Uh huh. Suuuure. You probably just wanted to see me make a fool of myself."

"Yes."

"What!? Jeez, you're worse than Inuyasha sometimes." He growled at this. She giggled. "So you're not going to mercilessly slaughter them?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You really think so poorly of me?" He questioned.

"Actually, when it comes to killing, yes." She laughed as he put a pretend hurt look on his face.

Aowin went to get Mizu from Ginta and Hakaku. "Thanks for watching her. It was great meeting you!" Mizu was giggling happily.

"It was nice to meet you to! Be sure to visit again, and bring Mizu with you." Aowin hugged both of them and waved. _They seemed to get along with Mizu really well._

"Can you wave bye, Mizu?" The baby dog demon raised her hand a moved it a little in an attempt to wave bye. The two waved back to her with joyful looks on their faces. Time _to say bye to Koga…._

The sight she saw when she got out there was so awkward she had to use all of her self control to stop herself from laughing. Koga and Sesshomaru were just standing there staring at each other awkwardly. Koga had a nervous smile on his face and kept trying to start up a conversation, which Sesshomaru would not reply to.

"You guys having a staring contest?" She asked. Koga sighed in relief as she came out. "Bye Koga! Thanks for letting me stay here until Sesshomaru came!" She hugged him goodbye and he blushed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sesshomaru getting a little jealous.

"You'll have to come again sometime. See ya!" He waved bye to her. She ran over to Sesshomaru while waving over her shoulder.

"C'mon, let's go back." When they were out of earshot and in the woods she narrowed her eyes evilly at Sesshomaru. "So, were you worried about us?"

"This Sesshomaru does not worry."

"Then why were you jealous when I hugged Koga?"

"I wasn't jealous." _Hey, he actually didn't use third person! Woot woot!_

"Then why are you stiff with jealousy?" She poked his stiff arm and it twitched. He blushed and looked away. "Ha ha! You were jealous!" She laughed at his denial and leaned on his arm as they walked.

"I love you." She randomly said after a few more moments. A few minutes later Sesshomaru replied in a quiet voice.

"I love you too."

Sorry if my soccer description wasn't that good, but I'm not good at describing sports. Some of the things in this chapter came directly from my life, the soccer stuff mostly. For example, I have played soccer for eight years like I made her do, and my coaches always put me on midfield for some reason, and it ticks me off, because like I made her, I prefer defense because if has less ground to cover. Gah…I have writers block now. Please, if anyone has any ideas, let me know:D


	20. Chapter 20 Reunion

Chapter 20 Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

_Bathump…bathump…bathump….bathump……_

Aowin woke with a start and placed her hand over her heart. _My heartbeat…it's slowing down._ She frowned. _ I don't have much time left…I've been procrastinating too much. It's now or never._

Reaching over, she gently shook Sesshomaru. "Hmm…?" He mumbled sleepily. Aowin smiled slightly.

"Sesshomaru, it's time. We need to act now." Sesshomaru immediately sat up, a look of worry on his face.

"Did something happen?"

"Not anything too serious, but my heartbeat is slowing down. That signals that I don't have much time left." She sighed. "I need to complete the rest of this rhyme, but I don't know where to look." _ If only Inuyasha and the others were here…Oh, how I miss them. _

Sensing her train of thought, Sesshomaru sighed. "Look like we'll have to find them then."

"What did you say?!" Aowin looked up in surprise.

"As much as I hate them, Aowin, you don't. I'm not going to keep you from your friends."

Smiling brightly, she dove at him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Sesshomaru." _Now I know why I love him so much._

"I've sensed them in the area recently, so we should be able to find them easily."

"Suddenly, a thought struck Aowin. "But…what about Mizu? It could be dangerous, and I won't be able to bear it if she is harmed!"

Sesshomaru paused to think. An idea came quickly to him. "Leave her with Serya; she will take good care of Mizu."

Aowin smiled. "Ok then. We'll drop her off on the way." They both rolled out of bed and got dressed, Sesshomaru wearing his normal attire and Aowin wearing simple jeans and a t-shirt.

Picking up the still sleeping Mizu, she pecked her on the forehead. "Ok, let's go."

Serya had been happy to watch over Mizu, and after both Aowin and Sesshomaru kissed their daughter goodbye, they took off. "Do you know where they are?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yes, they are just up-" He stopped suddenly and his face darkened.

She looked at him curiously. "What is it, Sesshomaru?"

He growled. "Naraku. His smell is mixed with theirs." Aowin's heart stopped.

"Oh no, they're fighting with him!? Come on, we have to hurry!"

A few minutes later, they burst through the trees to see Naraku and Inuyasha heatedly engaged in battle, with Miroku and Sango by his side. Kagome and Shippou were off to the side where it was safer. Seeing her friends again filled Aowin with joy, and all she wanted to do was hug them. But she knew that now was not the time for this.

When everyone finally recognized her aura, they all glanced over. "Aowin!" Kagome cried, rushing over to her with Shippou in her arms.

"It's Aowin!" Miroku and Sango shouted happily.

Naraku smirked. "So the little wench has finally come. Thinks are going to be interesting."

"A-Aowin?" Inuyasha stuttered. He had a look in his eyes that looked like…shame? _ He must feel bad about our fight…I don't blame him, I do too,_ she thought. The look of shame quickly turned to anger however when he switched his gaze to Sesshomaru.

When Kagome reached her they embraced each other happily. "Aowin, I missed you so much!" She exclaimed.

"I know me too!" Aowin agreed. "So, did I miss anything?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, not much. But this battle is going to be big, nothing like ever before!"

Aowin nodded gravely. "I know, because this is going to end today! We're going to make sure that this is the final battle!"

Sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out. Well, this story is coming to a close. Only a few more chapters left. Wait until the next one!


	21. Chapter 21 The Necklace Shattered

Chapter 21 The Necklace Shattered

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

I was skimming my other chapters, and I realized how much everything sucked! The paragraphing and talking, and everything! I'm sorry you all had to read that, it must have been confusing:P

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Koga is in this fight too. Ok, now to the chapter!

Naraku grinned. _So, they are all here now. Then they'll all be here to witness me getting rid of my greatest threat. _He chuckled to himself. Yes, his plan would definitely work.

They all glared at him. "This is what we've been working towards…" Koga began.

"This is what we've been sacrificing everything for…" Sango and Miroku added.

"We've tried so hard, and come so far…" Kagome said.

"So you're not getting away, Naraku!" Aowin said firmly.

"You're going to die right here, right now! It's the end for you!" Inuyasha finished.

Naraku looked upon them all. "You can all speak so big, but let me see you act on it."

"Whatever you say!" Inuyasha screamed, charging at Naraku. Koga was right behind him.

"We're gonna work together on this, right Mutt-face?" Koga asked quietly.

"Yeah, we're gonna need all the help we can get from each other." Inuyasha replied just as quietly.

Koga smiled. "Then let's go!" He flipped over Naraku and aimed a powerful kick at his head. "HYAHHH!" Naraku blocked it, of course, but that's what Koga wanted to happen. While his hands were busy with Koga, Inuyasha threw the Wind Scar at him. It struck him, but caused little damage, seeing as Naraku had also blocked that.

Meanwhile, by the others, Sesshomaru was urging to get into the battle. "Will you be ok by yourself?" He asked Aowin.

She frowned at him. "I'm not helpless. And besides, I have Kagome and the others to protect me." Sesshomaru looked kind of hesitant to leave her in the hands of the humans he deemed helpless, but did in the end.

"Just be safe." And with that said, he took off to help the other two. Aowin stared off for awhile, then shook her head and went to the others.

"It's time that we helped too." She began giving instructions. "Miroku, can you also assist them in close combat?" He nodded, and off he went. "Now Sango, you're good at both, so which one do you want to do?"

"I'll do both on and off, starting with far. Kirara!" With a growl, the nekomata transformed in a burst of flames, and allowed Sango to hop on her back and fly off.

"That just leaves me, you, and Shippo." Aowin said to Kagome. "We can both do combat from afar, and Shippo can help by igniting your arrows with fox fire."

Shippo gulped. "I'll do my best!" He hopped on Kagome's shoulder. "I'm ready when you are!" Aowin got into a stance. She focused her powers, and swung her arms through the air. Glowing blue blades flung from her arms and sliced through the air towards Naraku.

Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Koga took their turns throwing punches and attacks at Naraku, and Sango threw her attacks from afar. They seemed to be knocking him back and forth to each other in a circle. _This is too easy…_They all seemed to think at the same time. Indeed, it seemed like Naraku was only defending, and not trying to attack at all. They were pulled out of their thoughts however, when blue blades zipped past them and sliced through Naraku's tentacles. Soon after that, an arrow surrounded by fox fire shot through and hit Naraku.

Funny enough, both their attacks didn't seem to affect him at all. "Maybe if we move closer, then we can do more damage." Aowin suggested to Kagome. A red flag seemed to go up in Aowin's mind at this suggestion, but she ignored it.

Naraku tried to hide his smirk. They were doing exactly what he wanted them to do. Now they were all close enough. His plan would go quite nicely. Each one of them was busy fighting off his tentacles, so no one would notice. Tentacles slowly and silently slipped around their ankles, and advanced up to their shins and thighs. They gripped tightly, but not enough to let the group notice them.

Normally his tentacles are simple to defeat, in a matter of seconds. But these were special. He had spent quite a lot of time strengthening them, to make them very hard to break. It would not be so hard to break free from them now.

Soon, everyone was restrained, from head to foot. Now, they started to notice.

"What the hell is this?!" Inuyasha asked, trying to jerk free.

"It shouldn't be this hard to break free from…" Koga muttered.

Sesshomaru seemed to be the first one to notice the way they were spread apart. Kagome, Sango, and Shippo were on one side of Naraku, while he, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Koga were on the other side. And Aowin…Aowin was directly in front of Naraku, away from helping range!

"His objective is Aowin!" Sesshomaru screamed, but it was too late. A rush of tentacles was now soaring towards Aowin. The others were desperately trying to break free of the tentacles, but only managed to get a few loose.

Aowin wasn't the least bit scared. This had happened before many times, and Naraku had never killed her yet. _He'll never learn…_ She thought. She aimed to block and slice through the tentacles, her arms positioned in front of her torso. That was where Naraku always struck, her heart.

When she felt no tentacles being shredded by her attacks, she was confused at first. That was until she heard a loud shattering noise, as if glass was breaking. Then she saw dark blue shards flying in front of her, and then she understood what happened.

Her necklace containing her soul was broken. She was going to die.

Oooh a cliffy! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for the next chapter! By the way, I can't describe fighting scenes, I'm sorry! It must've sucked lol. I'm afraid that this story is coming close to a conclusion….


	22. Chapter 22 Riddle Solved and Rebirth

A/N: Omg it's been so long since I updated that it's not even funny! I don't blame you guys if you hate me, which I doubt any of you will though because no one reads this anymore… . But for those of you who still do, this is the very last chapter, and thank you all who reviewed, favorited, or even simply took the time to read this story! I hope you like the ending!

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.

Chapter 22: Riddle Solved; Rebirth

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Intense pain, it was the only feeling she knew. As the glinting blue shards were pulled to the Earth by gravity, Aowin could make out Naraku's smirking face and her friends' horrified and tearful expressions. Their mouths were moving, but she couldn't hear their words. Soon, the pain even blocked out their faces.

She felt as if her skin was being peeled off and her organs shredded to bits before being cruelly yanked out.

_God, please, make the pain stop! I can't take it…but I don't want to leave Mizu…_

A flash of shocking blue was the last color that shone through her eyelids before darkness engulfed her. It was strange…she didn't feel as if she was dead…just floating in a dark void, with a lot of time to think, and thinking was just what she did.

_The riddle…_she recalled suddenly._ "How do you know who's friend or foe? Hear their screams and you will know." That must explain the tension between Inuyasha and my friends and Sesshomaru. They tried to attack Sesshomaru to save me, even though I didn't want to be saved. They were my friends, but Sesshomaru was my love, and I didn't know who to attack to stop them from fighting! But when I heard my friends and Sesshomaru scream, I understood…_

A strange sensation flooded Aowin and the blistering pain she experienced vanished, but she paid no mind.

"_When all is lost and all is gained, you must face immortal pain." I definitely understand that. When all is lost, meaning when my necklace shattered and my soul escaped, but what did I gain?_

She felt like all of the burdens and stress had been lifted from her life. She felt…free.

"_But do not feel any shame, for sacrifice will play its game." What could that possibly mean? No shame? Shameful of what will happen to Sesshomaru and my friends, now that I died and left them? Shameful of what will happen to Mizu, growing up without her mother? And what's "sacrifice's game"? I was never that good at riddles…_

Softness encased her body and blinding white light shone through her eyelids. _What? I thought I died…_

"Open your eyes, child," a kind and gentle voice commanded.

Aowin's eyes fluttered open in surprise. She sat up, surprise creasing her features at her surroundings. She was lying in a golden-barred daybed, covered in soft white blankets. She also donned an equally comfortable white nightgown. The young midnight priestess rested in a room with walls so white they almost glowed. There was no roof, and above her was a gorgeous baby blue sky with fluffy clouds so close she wanted to reach out and brush them with her fingers.

"The sky is beautiful today," the voice commented again.

Blinking, Aowin swiveled her head around to look at the man. He sat at the foot of the bed, and she had never seen such an amazing man in her life. His skin was slightly tan and completely unblemished, and pure white robes flowed down his tall body. He donned soft-looking, long brown hair and a matching beard. But his deep brown eyes were what caught her eye. They held the look of someone very wise who had seen everything there is to see, and while they also told he was very powerful, they showed extreme love, kindness, and understanding.

"God," she whispered, eyes widening in surprise and admiration. "You're the lord!" Aowin, on instinct, immediately dove down into a bowing position.

God chuckled, and it was the most beautiful thing Aowin had ever heard. "Get up, Aowin," he said gently, placing his hand on her head.

She did as she was told and could not help but to stare at him. "But why am I here with you? Is this Heaven? I really did die, didn't I?"

"Yes, this is Heaven, and yes you did die, but you aren't going to stay that way."

"What do you mean?" Aowin asked, still attempting to overcome the shock of who the main in front of her was.

"The rest of the riddle," the Lord said simply. "'But do not feel any shame, for sacrifice will play its game.'"

"I can't figure out what it means though," Aowin mumbled, lowering her head.

"Yes you can. Look deep inside you," God urged in understanding.

"Alright," she agreed hesitantly, but when God smiled warmly at her, she was filled with confidence. "I suspected that the first verse meant to not feel bad about not being able to protect my loved ones from Naraku."

"_Why_ is the riddle telling you not to feel ashamed about dying and leaving them behind?"

Aowin blinked, confused. "What?"

"You'll discover what I mean soon enough." The Lord's warm smile became brighter. "Go on."

"Ok…I suppose the second verse means that…" Aowin trailed off, not sure what to say.

"When you sacrifice yourself for people you love, is that a good thing?" God assisted.

"Yes."

"And what do people usually get in return for doing good deeds?"

"Rewards…"

"Exactly, and what is the reward a person who has passed away can receive?"

"Life…" the midnight priestess's eyes widened in realization. "Resurrection! 'And sacrifice will play its game' means rebirth for the one who sacrificed themselves!"

God smiled kindly. "You've figured it out. You're going to be reborn, Aowin. You deserve another chance at life; after all you've done to help others. You've risked your life multiple times to assist those in need. I'm very proud of you, my child."

Aowin grinned shyly, pride bubbling up inside her. But her smile slowly faded away. "But…"

"You have many questions to ask me; how did I create the world? How do I watch over everything all at once? How do I maintain the balance of the world?" Aowin's eyes widened when he spoke her exact thoughts. "Do not worry, child; you will come here again and will have the chance to ask me those things, but hopefully that won't be for a _very_ long time."

The red haired girl's happy smile returned. She felt as if she should say something in farewell…

"My dear Aowin, farewell? This isn't goodbye; I'm with you wherever you are. Talk to me anytime you want, I'll hear you."

"Thank you," she finally said, wearing the biggest, most cheerful grin she'd ever worn in her life. "Thank you so much for everything."

The Lord placed a soft, calming hand on her head, and before being surrounded by blinding white light, she saw a beautiful smile spread on God's face.

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Renewed. The feeling filled her from head to toe, rejuvenating her mind, soul, and body. Hands brushed across her face and the sound of sobbing reached her ears. Aowin slowly opened her emerald green eyes, peering up at the familiar faces around her.

"Oh my God, Aowin!" Fear and relief were threaded into Sesshomaru's voice, much different from how stoic he usually sounded. He pulled her up quickly into his arms, silent tears pouring down his cheeks.

"Sesshomaru…" Aowin whispered, hugging him back tightly. She missed his face and his voice so much; she thought she would never see it again. He finally pulled away from her and held her at arm's length, kissing her lips, cheeks, and forehead repeatedly.

"I thought you died!" he choked out, embracing her again.

"I did…" she whispered. "But the Lord gave me another chance at life. The part in the riddle: 'for sacrifice will play its game', means that I was reborn."

When Sesshomaru finally let go of her, Aowin embraced her friends and cried with them as he pulled himself together. All but one friend, that is; Inuyasha.

He stood there nervously, avoiding her eyes. His golden ones were slightly red; he'd been crying.

"Look, I'm sorry for everything…all that stuff goin' on with Sesshomaru, I shouldn't have stepped in. It was none of my business," he admitted quietly.

"No, it's ok," Aowin replied back softly. "You were only looking after me, like any friend would. I appreciate it."

The two reunited friends smiled small, cheerful grins, glad that the tears in their friendship were mended.

"Just hug already!" Shippo piped in impatiently.

Their grins widened and the half demon and the red haired priestess held each other tightly for a brief moment.

"What happened to Naraku, anyways?" Aowin asked suddenly. She almost forgot about him.

"Oh yeah," Kagome spoke up, "we were going to ask you about that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you…died," Koga said awkwardly, "you released a huge beam of blue light that shot right through Naraku's chest, and then the light morphed to green and you started sucking it back in."

"Yeah, and he started aging really quickly until he turned to bones, which crumbled to ash," Shippo put in.

Aowin couldn't help it; a scene from _Indiana_ _Jones: The Last Crusade_ flashed through her mind.

"It was frightening…" Sango recalled with a shudder. Miroku placed a comforting arm around her shoulders, and she actually didn't seem to mind.

"I absorbed Naraku's life," Aowin gasped, realization dawning on her. "God was able to resurrect me by switching our places; although I doubt that Naraku is in Heaven."

As her friends chuckled, Aowin allowed herself to become lost in her thoughts for a moment. _So that's what God meant…the riddle told me not to be ashamed of leaving my friends at Naraku's mercy, because when I died, I would take Naraku's life in the process._

"So does that mean you solved the riddle and the mark is gone?" Inuyasha asked curiously.

Aowin, equally curious, lifted the collar of the white gown she had returned with out a little to peer down it. She released a sigh of relief; the mark was gone, and the curse was broken.

"That's not the only mark that's gone!" Shippo exclaimed suddenly, pointing to her forehead.

"What are you-" Aowin froze, the rest of her sentence dying on her lips. "Kagome, I need a mirror _now_!"

The black haired schoolgirl quickly shuffled through her big yellow backpack and emerged with a small handheld mirror. She handed it to Aowin without a word.

The long haired girl quickly flicked it open and held it in front of her, brushing stray bangs out of the way. "…looks like my necklace shattering had one more consequence," she said with a bitter smile.

The mirror she held reflected a pale forehead, perfectly clear and unmarked, missing the purple crescent moon that usually resided there.

"I've lost my powers; I'm not a midnight priestess anymore."

Her companions' eyes widened, and they could not utter a word.

"…I'm really sorry about that, Aowin," Koga broke the silence, feeling truly sorry for his friend.

"…thanks, but I'll be ok," she replied after awhile. "I've carried the gift of being a midnight priestess for awhile now; it's someone else's turn now." The former midnight priestess smiled happily. "And I know just who received those powers."

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_10 Years Later…._

Ten-year-old Mizu ran around the forest cheerfully, crimson hair bouncing behind her and golden eyes scanning the grass. She slowed to a stop at a small meadow, where at her feet lay a dead baby bird, which barely got a chance at life. She frowned sadly and her dog ears drooped, then she gently picked up the fragile body and cradled it in her hands. She closed her eyes in concentration and allowed glowing green waves to flow down her arms and surround the bird.

A bright smile replaced her frown as the baby bird's eyes flashed open and it staggered to its feet. She giggled as it took flight, leaving blue feathers in its wake.

"Did you see that, mommy?" she asked in excitement, bouncing over to her smiling mother.

Aowin, twenty-five-years-old now, still looked roughly the same except her eyes were narrowed and more mature, and her body was more curvy. Also, her once naturally straight hair changed to be naturally curly, and she donned beautiful long crimson spirals.

"Yes, I saw. You did very well, better than I did on my first attempt!" She grinned proudly as she ruffled her daughter's hair, exposing the dark purple crescent moon marking her forehead.

"Where's daddy?" the bubbly child asked.

"He's with Uncle Inu-kun and Aunt Kagome-chan," Aowin explained. "We're going to go say bye to everyone before we go visit grandma and grandpa, ok?"

"Ok!" Mizu agreed cheerfully. "Will I be able to see Sakura-chan and Kohaku-kun?"

"Of course! Now, let's get going!" Aowin lifted her giggling child onto her back and made her way back to Kaede's Village.

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"Welcome back, Aowin and Mizu-chan!" Miroku greeted happily.

"Hey!" Aowin waved as they entered Miroku and Sango's shared hut. The two had gotten married soon after Naraku was killed, and Sango was five months pregnant.

"Mizu-chan, how are you?" Kohaku asked politely as he joined Miroku. After much debating, everyone agreed it was best to use the complete Shikon Jewel to restore Kohaku's life completely, and he was currently living with his older sister and her husband.

"Kohaku-kun!" Mizu leaped off her mother's back and enveloped the twenty-one-year-old in a bear hug. He smiled and hugged her back.

"So Kohaku, how are things with Rin going?" Aowin asked with a wink.

The demon slayer blushed heavily. "I-It's good. Sesshomaru-sama still doesn't approve, though."

"Nah, he trusts you. He knows you're a good young man; he's just very protective of Rin," the curly haired woman explained. "She's like a daughter to him."

Yelling echoed from outside the hut and Kagome entered looking stressed. She hadn't changed much physically except her hair was a little longer, and like Aowin, she was curvier. She also was a little more patient with Inuyasha; heck, she had to be, being married to him.

"What's going on out there?" An irritated Sango asked who had been woken up by all the ruckus.

"Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are arguing again, over something stupid. I really don't want to get into it," Kagome said, sighing in frustration.

"When do they ever argue over something not stupid?" Aowin pointed out.

"Good point."

"ARGH! I can't stand him!" Inuyasha barged into the hut huffing in anger.

"I'm sure he feels the same way about you."

"Shut up, monk," the still immature half demon growled.

"Aowin, come on," Sesshomaru called from outside the hut, sounding as irritated as Inuyasha. "Let's go."

"Coming!" she shouted back to him. "He's so impatient these days…"

"Tell me about it," Inuaysha grumbled.

Aowin ignored him as she bade farewell to her friends. "Where's Shippo?"

"Probably hitting on some girl…" Inuyasha muttered. "He's such a player."

"He _is_ eighteen," Miroku pointed out. "I remember when I was his age; I was the same way."

"_Was?_ You haven't changed!" Inuyasha muttered.

"Well, tell Shippo I say bye. Oh, and Miroku? Try not to be too perverted to Sango; it triggers her mood swings," Aowin suggested.

"I've learned that," Miroku said, shuddering at the painful memory.

"I heard that, monk!" Sango shouted from the other room.

"Wait, I have to say bye to Sakura-chan!" Mizu insisted.

"Sakura, come here please sweetie!" Kagome called to her kid.

Said girl scurried out of the room Sango was in and tackled Mizu in a hug. "I'll miss you, don't go!" the eight-year-old sobbed into her best friend's shoulder.

"I'll only be gone for a few days," Mizu reassured the fellow half demon, patting her short midnight black hair. "You do this every time I go to visit my grandma and grandpa."

"O-ok," Sakura sniffed, looking up at her friend through big, watery golden eyes. (Kagome and Aowin couldn't get over how adorable it was that their children had matching eye colors and dog ears.)

Mother and daughter finished their farewells and left the hut, joining Sesshomaru.

"Took you long enough," he grumbled, but he could not hide the smile on his face. He grew softer in the past ten years and expressed his emotions more around others. He hadn't completely melted, but Aowin was working on it.

The three person family reached the abandoned mine that lead to present-day America, to Aowin's home.

"Are you happy to go see grandma and grandpa?" Aowin asked her grinning daughter.

"Yup!" she replied cheerfully. "And can we get some food from that one place, Mickey Ds?"

Sesshomaru groaned and Aowin smiled. Both parents clutched one of their daughter's hands and leapt down the mine shaft, sparkling blue light engulfing them. Even when they reached the bottom in present-day America, Aowin did not release her daughter's hand. It scared her to think that ten years ago, on this day, she could've lost them both, the two most important people in her life. But she didn't and she wasn't going to; she would hold on to them forever, and make sure she never let go.

She would keep moving forward.

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A/N: Phew, this is finally completed. It took a long time because I wasn't very dedicated to updating, but for those of you who have stuck with it, I thank you! I just got back from Washington D.C. on a school field trip, and I had a lot of fun! However, I got the flu on the last day and I can't go to school tomorrow, which sucks because I'll have a ton of make up work. . I really hope I get some reviews this time; I got none on the last chapter. I'm actually happy with this chapter though; I thought I did a good job. Thank you guys again!


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